In the last few years, our country has seen a sharp increase in the construction and reconstruction of livestock and poultry complexes. Almost all enterprises built after 2000 try to use only the latest technologies and modern equipment for keeping animals. But with manure processing the situation is different.
Experts say that the problem of the lack of modern treatment facilities on farms is very acute. Professor of the Department of Electrification and Automation of the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after. Timiryazev Georgy Dekterev even calls it one of the eternal problems of the industry. Over the past few years, the situation with the introduction of modern technologies has not budged, he complains. New materials have appeared on the market (for example, film lagoons with complete waterproofing instead of unreliable concrete structures), but due to the high cost of re-equipment, enterprises practically do not use them.
The director of the Belagrotech Institute (Belgorod), Vladimir Skorokhodov, assesses the situation in a similar way: “Currently, there are practically no farms in Russia that use waste treatment facilities to process waste. In most cases, so-called lagoons are used - pits into which raw materials are dumped. Once the lagoon is filled, its contents are carried out to the fields without any processing.” For comparison, the expert cites the experience of Europe, where for about 10 years there has been a law prohibiting the throwing of unprocessed organic waste onto fields. Also in the West, due to the danger of raw materials penetrating into the ground, buried waste storage, which is used everywhere in Russia, is prohibited.
Project engineer at the Biocomplex company (Moscow, waste processing and disposal) Sergei Peregudov believes that the main reason for the low level of equipment of Russian agricultural and livestock enterprises with modern equipment for waste processing and disposal is their relative “youth” and the protracted crisis, which has greatly reduced business activity agriculture of Russia. Skorokhodov connects the emergence of such a difficult situation with the negligence of farmers in relation to the land and outdated legislation.
Currently, the Technological Design Standards (NTP 17-99) are in force in Russia. According to experts, in most cases, farmers comply with them, but the norms themselves have long been outdated. Existing rules do not provide for the use of new technologies, so when designing it is necessary to use European and American standards. Professor Dekterev notes that there are no modern treatment facilities even in the Moscow region, where compliance with environmental standards is monitored much more closely.
Hydroflush or scraper?
The first link in the chain of treatment facilities is the systems responsible for removing manure from livestock buildings. According to Peregudov, they are divided into two main types. The first is mechanical systems. As a rule, they are used in cattle breeding enterprises for free-stall, stall and stall-pasture housing of animals, in maternity wards, calf barns, in calf houses and in open feedlots. Mechanical systems are also common in small pig-breeding enterprises with a capacity of up to 24 thousand heads per year and pig farms that use the technology of cold housing of animals in light hangars.
The mechanical method of removing and transporting manure is carried out using scraper conveyors. In yards with tethered housing, as a rule, outdated devices such as TSN-160, made in Russia, are used, and in new and reconstructed complexes, modern scraper systems from such manufacturers as Farmtek, Transfer-Agro, Dairy-Tek, DeLaval, WestfaliaSurge, etc. Mechanical methods of manure removal also include the use of bulldozers of various types.
Peregudov also highlights hydraulic manure removal systems. They, in turn, are divided into two main types: self-alloying and hydroflush. Self-alloying (gravity-flowing) systems can be periodic or continuous. The periodic system (vacuum system) is a chain of interconnected baths with plugs. It is used in the construction and reconstruction of modern pig farms with animals kept without bedding. A self-floating continuous manure removal system is usually used when keeping animals without bedding or when using shallow bedding in cattle premises. Using this technology, a pipe or channel is flushed using the liquid fraction of manure.
The hydroflush method of manure removal was especially widespread in the 1980s during the construction of pig-breeding enterprises with a capacity of 54 thousand or more pigs per year. Now the technology is considered outdated: water consumption with this method increases ten times compared to self-alloying systems, which is extremely uneconomical. Therefore, hydraulic flushing is prohibited from being used in new construction, except in special cases approved by state environmental control, veterinary and sanitary supervision authorities. However, the commercial director of Bauer Technics Group, Andrey Yashchenko, claims that to this day, a hydraulic flush system is most often used on pig farms.
According to Peregudov, cattle complexes built using cold housing technology are also equipped with mechanical or hydraulic manure removal systems. Such premises have one distinctive feature: when designing them, an adjustment is made for the depth of the channel, which should lie below the freezing level of the soil, explains the specialist. Yashchenko adds that in winter, when the temperature drops below -15°C, manure is removed using mini-tractors, while scrapers are temporarily removed during periods of severe frost.
This is exactly how organic waste is handled at the Podovinnoye agricultural production complex (Chelyabinsk region, KRS). The farm uses cold keeping technology for animals. When the temperature in the barns drops to -6°C, the use of scraper units becomes impossible, and manure is removed once a day with a tractor shovel (the farm mainly uses Belarusian-made TZ-80 tractors).
Straw is used as bedding for livestock, which is removed along with manure (thereby ensuring more efficient rotting of the raw material). This is followed by loading onto carts and unloading onto special concrete sites, where the manure is left for a year and only after that is applied to the fields. According to the director of the enterprise, Sergei Melnikov, non-traditional manure removal technologies are widespread in the Urals. After all, in forty-degree frosts, the use of “classical” methods is only possible in heated rooms.
Processing of raw materials
After removing wastewater from the territory of livestock premises, the process of its processing and disposal begins. This process is fully controlled by technical design standards. Peregudov explains that the main requirements of NTP 17-99 for the design, construction and reconstruction of treatment facilities for industrial livestock complexes are: separation of manure effluents into fractions; quarantine of all types of manure for 7 days; composting of the solid fraction and litter manure by an active (7-8 days) or passive (2 months in the warm season and up to 3 months in the cold) method for disinfection and deworming; disinfection of the liquid fraction of manure in sectional storage ponds for 4 to 8 months, depending on the type of animal; the use of all types of manure and its fractions as organic fertilizers in the fields.
Since the costs of operating systems for processing and applying manure to fields directly affect the profitability and cost of livestock products, the enterprise needs to use energy-saving and low-cost technologies for recycling and processing manure into organic fertilizers, advises Peregudov.
Alexander Zakrevsky, chief engineer of NPO Agrotekhkomplekt (St. Petersburg; design and construction of livestock complexes), among modern technologies for processing raw materials, focuses on European technology, presented in the concept of the Wopereis company (Netherlands). “This technology is widely used on dairy farms in Europe,” he says. — Silage-fed dairy cows produce liquid manure, which is quite easy to pump with centrifugal pumps. What remains on the floor is removed by scrapers and dumped into a transverse manure channel 1.7 meters deep. When it is full, the manure is moved to a manure storage facility.”
According to Zakrevsky, manure is removed from the manure collection channel as follows.
An electric submersible mixer and a centrifugal pump are installed in the channel. The mixer ensures high-quality mixing of manure into a homogeneous mass, and a centrifugal pump, which is lowered to the bottom of the channel, transfers the raw material into a sealed plastic pipeline that is resistant to freezing and leaks. Underground, this pipeline enters a manure storage facility.
But before applying fertilizer to the fields, it needs to be mixed again, Zakrevsky recalls. For this purpose, there are stationary paddle-type mixers operating from the tractor shaft drive. In the lagoon with a volume of 6 thousand cubic meters. m (the maximum volume that can be created from one piece of film) mixing takes 12 hours. After this, self-suction vacuum barrels with a volume of about 11-15 cubic meters are used to distribute the manure across the field. m. An injector (cultivator) is installed behind such a barrel, which helps to apply manure subsoil, preserving the nitrogen contained there. The injectors have a working width of about 6 m and distribute manure evenly across the field. Vacuum pumps that are installed on the barrel have two rotation modes: they are capable of both sucking and pushing manure out of the barrel. The pumps create excess pressure inside the barrel, and the manure flows out onto the field faster. This saves time on subsoil application; the entire barrel is emptied in 3-4 minutes. In spring and autumn, when such work takes place, manure storage facilities are completely emptied and filled again.
It is not easy to calculate the approximate cost of such a set of equipment, since all projects are unique, says Zakrevsky, but adds that one lagoon complete with a mixer, pump and pipeline can cost about €100 thousand. It is also necessary to understand that to install such a set of equipment you need a complete reconstruction of buildings and changing the concept of the farm itself, the specialist recalls. The main advantage of this technology, according to him, is that when using it, there is no need to purchase nitrogen fertilizers. The most valuable fertilizer - nitrogen - is applied to the soil along with liquid manure. Zakrevsky claims that thanks to the refusal to purchase nitrogen fertilizers on a farm with 800 heads of cattle, this technology will pay for itself in less than 1.5 years.
According to Peregudov, the most modern and economical system for the disposal and processing of manure is the technology of separation (separation) of wastewater with subsequent processing of the separated solid fraction into high-quality fertilizers, bedding for cattle or fuel for pyrolysis heat generators.
Peregudov claims that according to the standards, the separation of livestock wastewater with a screw press separator makes it possible to reduce the volume of settling tanks by 2.5 times. This effect is achieved by reducing the holding time of the liquid fraction by half. “Moreover, separation simplifies the technology for applying the liquid fraction of manure as fertilizer to fields, reduces storage time and minimizes the harmful impact on the environment,” he notes. “And the solid fraction of manure separated by the separator is a relatively dry and crumbly odorless mass, which is an almost ideal material when used as bedding for cattle or fertilizer.”
Like Zakrevsky, Peregudov recommends the use of film materials when constructing lagoons for the liquid fraction. According to his calculations, this makes it possible to reduce the cost of building premises by 15 times compared to concrete structures. “The entire system is accessible even to small farms,” says the specialist. — For example, its price for a cattle farm with 0.4-1.2 thousand heads or a pig farm with 8-16 thousand heads will be about 11-15 million rubles. This cost will include the equipment of the separation shop with a system of pumping stations, construction costs (up to 6 million rubles), as well as film manure storage tanks (lagoons) with installed equipment for mixing and pumping out manure (up to 5-9 million rubles).”
Sad statistics
We can say that all farms are involved in manure disposal to one degree or another. But only some use modern equipment and machinery to use manure as fertilizer in accordance with agronomic standards, while others carry out uncontrolled removal to the fields, bypassing all rules. Moreover, the latter are the majority of enterprises. According to experts, there are no separate statistics on the equipment of farms with modern treatment facilities, but the share of these enterprises is extremely small.
However, there are also farms built more than 20 years ago, which, despite outdated equipment, try to dispose of manure in compliance with all standards, and, if possible, gradually update the equipment and fleet of vehicles.
Such farms include AF "Gostagai" (Anapa; cattle, sheep). The chief agronomist of the enterprise, Sergei Peslyak, describes the method of recycling raw materials: “In winter, we keep animals indoors, and in summer outside. In winter, manure is removed from the premises using Soviet-made scraper units, loaded onto wheelbarrows located under the conveyor, and transported to a manure storage facility. And in the summer, tractors are used for such work, which quite successfully remove raw materials from uncovered areas. Our manure storage facility is buried and made of concrete slabs. The raw materials rot there for about a year, after which they are applied to the fields using manure spreaders, which were also produced during the Soviet era. After that, the field is plowed.” According to the agrarian, this mechanism complies with environmental standards and is inexpensive.
Manure is removed in approximately the same way at the Suvorov farm (Krasnodar Territory; cattle, pigs). The general director of the enterprise, Alexander Pelikh, says that Belarusian-made tractors are used to remove manure from the premises. Raw materials, as in Gostagai, are removed into buried concrete pits, and after a year they are introduced into the fields that belong to a nearby crop production company. “Environmental services have no complaints against us,” says Pelikh.
Peregudov, describing the general situation in the industry, notes that the processing of manure and other animal waste is mainly carried out by modern large agricultural holdings that have their own grain companies. As an example, the specialist cites such enterprises as “ Talina"(Saransk; meat processing, pig farming, feed production), "Belgorod Bacon" (Belgorod; pig farming), "Orelselprom" (Orel; pig farming), " Miratorg"(Moscow; agro-industrial holding). “These enterprises, in accordance with the standards, carry out not only the disposal of manure from livestock enterprises, but also its processing, using modern equipment. And they use the resulting organic fertilizer on their fields,” says the engineer.
As for small farms, the situation is different. Although there are exceptions. For example, the experience of the SV-Povolzhskoye pig farm (Togliatti, an agro-industrial holding) that is in the process of reconstruction is interesting, where they approached the issue of waste processing in a comprehensive manner. Manure at the enterprise will be processed into organic fertilizer by dividing into fractions and accelerated composting, and the processed waste from its own slaughterhouse is planned to be used as a protein additive to feed. Another example is the Ivanovsky Broiler poultry farm (Ivanovo region, full cycle of chicken meat production), which annually sells to the population more than 4.5 thousand tons of compost obtained as a result of the separation of liquid manure waste.
Also, according to Peregudov, some dairy cattle farms process manure waste using separators and bioreactors into bedding for cows.
Unfortunately, there are only a few such farms, the specialist complains, although this technology has been effectively used by farmers in Europe for more than 10 years.
At the same time, Skorokhodov from the Belagrotech Institute notes that at the moment there is no market for organic fertilizers in Russia, and therefore, small farms may have serious problems with the sale of such goods.
Filtration equipment on livestock farms is used not only as a source of drinking water, but also to maintain the required level of fire prevention and to treat wastewater contaminated with waste products of livestock or birds.
In the photo: water treatment plant “Jalshuddhi” – Animal Husbandry.
In the development of livestock and fisheries, the organization of water supply and sanitation systems plays a very important role. As a rule, farms are located at a considerable distance from the city, so the possibility of using the central water supply as a source of drinking water is minimized. How is water treatment carried out for livestock farms? And what is the difference between filters for wastewater coming from meat processing plants and poultry plants?
Types of water purification systems in livestock farming
Water supply systems for livestock farms and complexes are required to ensure the supply of water in the required quantities and in accordance with the norms and quality standards. The estimated amounts of water consumption are determined in accordance with the total water consumption, defined as the sum of three indicators (Figure 1)
Rice. 1. Water treatment system for livestock farms
The estimated water consumption for firefighting needs, depending on the number of livestock, ranges from 5 to 20 liters per second (if it becomes necessary to extinguish a fire for three hours). A 100,000-strong pork production complex requires 3,000 cubic meters of water per day. The daily norm of a ten-thousandth farm reaches 600 cubic meters. meters of liquid per day. The volume of wastewater, taking into account the water used for cleaning and maintenance of premises, can be roughly equated to the daily consumption of drinking resources.
Table 1. Average annual consumption of fresh water (in cubic meters) per 1 ton of processed raw materials
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Meat processing plant capacity (tons per shift) |
Average annual consumption of fresh water (per 1 ton of processed raw materials) |
Water supply sources
Wells, artesian wells and surface water can serve as a source of water supply for livestock farms. For small complexes with a water consumption of up to 40 cubic meters per day, it is most rational to use groundwater located close to the surface of the earth, pumped by pumping units through mine wells.
An artesian well is suitable for organizing water supply for large livestock farms. In this case, the cost of organizing water intake is compensated by the benefit from using less powerful filters for drinking water (the exception is iron removers).
Filtration (aeration) of surface water is the main stage in organizing water treatment for fish farms.
The choice of treatment facilities for livestock farms depends on the specialization of the enterprise. Farms engaged in poultry and meat processing are forced to additionally install degreasers, as well as purification systems for removing ammonia, suspended solids, opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms. (3, 4)
Sources used:
1. Kirillov N.K. (Chuvash State Agricultural Acad.). Veterinary and sanitary control of the condition of livestock facilities State and problems of veterinary sanitation, hygiene and ecology in livestock farming
2. Kostenko Yu.G. Veterinary and sanitary control during processing of raw meat.
3. Sanitary rules and regulations SanPiN 2.1.5.980-00 “Hygienic requirements for the protection of surface waters”
4. Sanitary rules and regulations [For enterprises of the food and processing industry]. -2 ed., with changes, and add.
In order to water the cows and prepare their feed, it is necessary to organize a competent water supply to the barn. Today, in livestock farms, water is also used for sanitizing milking machines, milk tanks and utensils, washing the udder, washing cows, and cleaning premises. Uninterrupted water supply to the farm is one of the main conditions for milk production. That is why it is very important to correctly design and efficiently install water supply for a utility complex.
Barn water supply schemes
Water supply systems for livestock farms are a set of various devices and engineering facilities necessary for the extraction, pumping, storage and delivery of the necessary liquid to the barn. Local communications (they have their own water source, pumping devices and water supply) are used for centralized water supply to livestock complexes, and group communications are used to service several large structures connected by a common territory.
The water supply of a cattle farm is a source of liquid, a water intake facility, pumping units, external and internal water supply networks. Often the scheme is supplemented with filters or other equipment that purifies water.
In pressure water pipelines, the liquid is supplied by pumping equipment; in gravity systems, the main element (source) is located above the level of the barn.
To supply water to livestock farms and complexes, local and centralized types are used, which have underground water sources and fire-fighting tanks with a supply of liquid.
Determining the external water supply scheme
Farms have an external water supply system, which is laid outside the building, and an internal water supply system that directly distributes water to the farm. The external network can be a dead-end network, where communications are diverted from the main highway to different directions, along which the liquid moves in one direction.
A ring scheme is also used, which is a closed-loop pipeline in which water is supplied to the livestock farm from both sides.
The main advantage of a dead-end system designed for farming is its short length, which reduces installation costs. The main disadvantage is that in the event of an emergency, the entire barn will need to be disconnected from the water supply. Using a ring circuit on a farm makes it possible to repair damaged areas without interrupting the flow of fluid to the farm. A significant disadvantage is the large length of pipelines and the resulting increased costs.
Considering the lower costs of installation and operation, many prefer a dead-end water supply scheme. It is drawn on the plan taking into account the shortest length of the route and the number of branch nodes. This calculation assumes that in all sections there are 2 streams with corresponding consumer flow.
Technological and hydraulic calculations
Water in barns is required for technological, economic, and hygienic needs, and external fire-fighting water supply is also indispensable without it.
When calculating the required amount of liquid for a livestock complex, it is first worth calculating the average daily consumption of supplies. Depending on the number of cows kept and the water consumption standards that are established for these farms, how the farms are supplied with liquid depends. After this, the maximum water consumption is determined taking into account the coefficient of daily unevenness (because this value is used for further calculations).
Depending on different conditions, the daily fluid flow in the barn can reach several hundred cubic meters. The calculation of the water supply system must be carried out in such a way that the network provides a high-quality supply of water for watering cattle, because its lack will immediately cause a decrease in productivity.
According to SNiPs, there are certain standards for water consumption (measured in liters per day). For example, for:
- cows – 70;
- bulls – 45;
- young cows up to 2 years old – 35;
- calves up to six months – 25.
Hydraulic calculation of water supply allows you to determine the diameter of the pipeline and the reduction in pressure as a result of overcoming resistance in the pipes when passing the required amount of liquid through them. Determining this indicator will be needed in order to find out what height the water tower should have and what the technical characteristics of the pumping equipment are.
Mechanization of water supply for the farm
Organizing water supply for livestock farms requires significant human labor. Calculation shows that for delivery 1 cubic meter. m of water and its distribution to cows without mechanization will require about 5-6 people/hour, and in case of automation - 0.04-0.05 people/hour. From this it is clear that the transition to innovative technologies makes it possible to reduce labor costs significantly.
The required pressure in the network is created using pumping equipment that delivers water from the source to collection tanks or treatment facilities. After this, the pumps pump the liquid into the tower and then to the water pipes in the network.
Different mechanisms are used to pump water from different types of sources (deeper or surface). The choice of one type or another and the determination of power depends on the depth of the water source, its flow rate and the amount of liquid required for farms. Water-lifting devices can be manual, motor-powered or self-acting.
In the water supply of cowsheds, manual, driven piston and centrifugal pumps, compressor units, and hydraulic rams are used.
Mechanization of water supply helps reduce labor costs, increase productivity and create the required sanitary conditions in the barn.
Water towers and reservoirs
Water towers provide the required pressure in the general network, with their help the water supply is regulated, and the issue of storing its reserves is resolved. For this purpose, underground tanks are used, from which the liquid then enters pipelines using pumps.
In livestock farming on farms, tentless tower-columns made of metal are most often used. They are produced with different capacities (up to 50 cubic meters) and heights (10-30 m). The column of the structure is also filled with water. As a result, actual reserves are much greater than indicated in the equipment passport.
Agriculture requires the mandatory availability of a supply of water resources, which must be at hand in the event of a fire (must be located in above-ground or underground non-pressure reservoirs). Water from them is supplied by special fire pumps. In the absence of such containers, the liquid is taken from reservoirs or rivers.
According to the standards, the water tank must contain such a reserve that will be enough for 10 minutes of fire hydrant operation in parallel with the standard consumption for other needs.
Use of cow watering equipment
A farm is not complete without water troughs. These devices are invariably used for feeding cows. There is direct contact with cattle, so products must be made taking into account the anatomical characteristics of the animals. Automatic drinkers are specialized devices, thanks to which the cattle themselves are supplied with drinking water from the water supply.
The use of special equipment for watering cattle in livestock farms makes it possible to increase milk yield by 15-20% and significantly reduce personnel labor costs for servicing animals.
Individual automatic drinkers are used on cow farms, where tethered housing predominates. Group devices are used for cows that are kept in a free-stall system. Such equipment can be stationary or mobile. The latter type is used during grazing of cattle.
For pigsties, automatic drinkers are used, equipped with a special valve (ball) placed in a special tank. The trough for the device is made with a lid, which protects the containers from contamination. When a pig drinks water, its level in the trough decreases, the valve moves in parallel and opens the hole in the pipeline. He fills the trough again.
Laying internal water supply on a farm
The internal water supply system on a farm begins with a riser, from which there are branching pipelines. In the feed preparation room located on the farm, water is supplied to important appliances (steam generator, water heater, root washer, fruit washer), and automatic drinkers and watering taps are supplied to the stalls.
The laying of the pipeline leading directly to the automatic drinkers is carried out along the trajectory of the location of the feeders (the height must be maintained at 160 cm from the floor). A pipe (its diameter is 25 mm) is connected to each drinker along the stand. These branches are connected to the pipeline using special fasteners, and are screwed from below to the tee of the desoldering device. In the passages at a height of 2.5 m from the floor level, transitions are made in the shape of the letter “P”.
The use of automatic drinkers is a thoughtful step in water supply for livestock farms. Cows constantly receive clean water and drink it according to their own needs. High-quality supplies will protect cattle from gastrointestinal diseases, and constant consumption of fluids helps improve the condition of animals and significantly increase the productivity of the enterprise.
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