Manure Composting and Odor Reduction:

Every year animals all around the world produce a vast amount of waste in all forms of matter like liquid and solid waste. This imposes a great danger to the environment, making it polluted. This awful environment, which, due to the accumulation of waste, causes health problems for humans as well as animals.

The degeneration of animal waste by microorganisms produces carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, and methane. The methane obtained from manure can overcome the energy requirement of the entire barn itself. In the US, daily production of animal waste is more than twenty-five thousand tons that can produce a large amount of methane that can be used as a fossil fuel.

Zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral, helps in the process of animal excrete composting. It helps in controlling the smell too. Ammonium is continuously converted to Ammonia gas; zeolite absorbs the liquid content and gases, making the ammonia gas absorbed and hence less odor.

Zeolite helps in enhancing the quality of manure by three different mechanisms:

1. Zeolite increases the plant available nitrogen by decreasing the degradation of Nitrogen in waste. H and hence making the waste better fertilizer.

2. Absorption of liquid content in the animal excrement by zeolite; controlling moisture.

3. It enhances the quality of Methane that is produced by the microbial activity and anaerobic digestion of the waste.

Meisinger et al experimented; he noticed that the manure that was treated by Zeolite had more than 50 percent less ammonia gas emitted as compared to the usual untreated sludge. Phosphorus that is dangerous for the environment was always reduced.

Digestion enhancement was seen in an experiment conducted on pig waste. The pigs were fed 10-12 g of Zeolite, and there was a decrease in overall ammonium presence. The increase in methane production proved zeolite Manure composting ability; the acidity of the excrement was also decreased.

Mumpton reported that the addition of Clinoptilolite could decrease the foul-smelling bird droppings as in poultry farms that produce ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which the reason for bad odor. Clinoptilolite absorbs gases, and moisture and smell subside. Clinoptilolite makes the environment healthy as birds are prone to respiratory diseases due to these awful gases.

Mumpton also suggested that the cost of workers can be decreased as Zeolite can help in drying the facility by it’s absorbing nature. The Zeolite composting manure can also be obtained by adding it to the waste. Zeolite helps maintain a healthy environment.