Scientists of Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI) together with the innovative company CSE Orgtekhstroy LLC have modernized the technological line for processing livestock waste for the production of organic fertilizers. Recycling allows not only to obtain useful products, but also makes it possible to reduce environmental pollution.
Livestock waste is usually stored in open-air lagoons. This is environmentally unsafe, because as a result of the decomposition of organic matter, harmful gases (ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane) are released into the atmosphere. During the period of snowmelt or heavy rains, livestock waste is washed out of the lagoons and, as a result, groundwater pollution, says Dmitry Nemushchenko, senior lecturer at the Department of Environmental Engineering. And for the development of the domestic market of organic fertilizers, there is a significant need for biofertilizers that allow us to offer consumers high-quality crop products.
University scientists carried out the modernization of the technological line within the framework of a subsidy from the Ministry of Science and Innovation Policy of the Novosibirsk Region for LLC Center for Construction Expertise Orgtekhstroy. The small innovative enterprise is a member of the Siberian Biotechnological Scientific and Educational Center (SibbioNOC) and is engaged in the production of organic fertilizers at waste treatment plants by anaerobic digestion.
"The production line consists of a modular reactor, substrate preparation and filtration systems and engineering infrastructure — pipelines, mixing devices in reactors, a heating system and a biogas discharge system. Our task was to make all this work in an automated mode based on sensor readings. The second and most important part of the work is the simulation of fermentation modes in the reactor. We modeled this process using a software package, having previously studied the physico-chemical properties of the substrate — viscosity, density at different temperatures, and solid phase content. After the simulation, the mixing device and mixing modes were designed," Dmitry Nemushchenko said.
According to him, the scientific interest on the part of NSTU-NETI is to improve the technology of designing such lines. In particular, it is an opportunity to simulate the processes occurring in a bioreactor, because the substrates to be fermented differ in properties, and the conditions in the reactors also differ.
New equipment was purchased as part of the subsidy. When launching the production line, the simulation results were taken into account, and new mixing devices with calculated mixing modes selected by NSTU-NETI scientists were installed.
For the Novosibirsk Region— one of the leaders in agriculture in Siberia, the emergence of a manufacturer that is ready to provide livestock farmers with waste recycling technology means, first of all, import substitution in terms of fertilizers and the development of the organic market. The conducted field and laboratory studies have shown that the fertilizer produced at the enterprise has a good effect on the productivity of agricultural crops.
NSTU-NETI scientists plan to continue working in this area. Together with CSE Orgtekhstroy LLC, an application has been submitted for co-financing the purchase of equipment for the production of granular fertilizers. As Dmitry Nemushchenko explained, two types of products are obtained at the exit from the waste processing complex: liquid and viscous fractions. Granular fertilizer can be made from the viscous fraction. It has many useful properties, for example, it helps to increase the resistance of plants to adverse external conditions. In hot weather, plants that are fertilized with this drug tolerate drought better, and they are also more resistant to pests. In addition, these fertilizers are of delayed action.: they gradually release nutrients, providing long-term plant nutrition.
The results of the scientific work have been published in leading journals in the field of agriculture — "Agrarian Science of the Euro-North-East" and "Siberian Bulletin of Agricultural Science".