Assessment of a Novel Real-Time Bio-Liquor Circulation System for Manure Management and Mitigation of Odor Potential in Swine Farming

Abstract

Recently, circulating biologically treated manure in slurry pits has been used as an odor reduction technology, but few successful results have been reported, due to the lack of proper control strategies for bioreactors. This study was conducted to investigate the performance of the developed real-time controlled bio-liquor circulation system (BCS) at farm scale. The BCS was operated sequentially as per swine manure inflow (anoxic, aerobic, and settling) circulation to the slurry pit. Each operational phase was self-adjusted in real-time using a novel algorithm for detecting the control point on the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and pH (mV)–time profiles, the nitrogen break point (NBP), and the nitrate knee point (NKP) in the aerobic and anoxic phases, respectively. The NH4-N in the slurry manure was thoroughly removed (100%) in the bioreactor, optimizing the duration of each operational phase by accurately detecting real-time control points. The newly developed real-time BCS decreased the nitrogen and organic matter in the slurry pit by >70%, and the potential ammonia and methane emissions by 75% and 95%, respectively. This study highlights that improved BCS that utilizes ORP tracking and pH (mV)–time profiles can effectively optimize BCS operation, and thereby reduce malodor and GHG emissions from swine farms.