Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry
With the increasing demand for food worldwide, the use of fertilizers in the agricultural industry has grown. Natural fertilizers derived from the use of animal manure slurry, especially cattle and cow, are responsible for 40% of the agricultural ammonia emission. The EU defined the goal to reduce N...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1222 |
| _version_ | 1829453344912965632 |
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| author | Thomas Sepperer Alexander Petutschnigg Konrad Steiner |
| author_facet | Thomas Sepperer Alexander Petutschnigg Konrad Steiner |
| author_sort | Thomas Sepperer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the increasing demand for food worldwide, the use of fertilizers in the agricultural industry has grown. Natural fertilizers derived from the use of animal manure slurry, especially cattle and cow, are responsible for 40% of the agricultural ammonia emission. The EU defined the goal to reduce NH<sub>3</sub> emission drastically until 2030, yet until today an overall increase has been observed, making it more difficult to reach the target. In this study, we used two by-products from the dairy industry, namely flushing milk and acidic whey, to lower the pH of cattle manure slurry and therefore mitigate the loss of nitrogen in the form of ammonia into the atmosphere, making it available in the soil. Measurements of pH, ammonium nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and lactic acid bacteria colonies were conducted in a lab-scale experiment to test the hypothesis. Afterwards, pH measurements were conducted on bigger samples. We found that whey effectively reduced the pH of manure below 5, therefore moving the ammonia/ammonium equilibrium strongly towards ammonium. Flushing milk on the other hand lowered the pH to a smaller extent, yet allowed for faster hydrolysis of urea into ammonium. The findings in this study present a suitable and environmentally friendly approach to help reach the climate goals set by the EU by using by-products from the same industry branch, therefore being a suitable example of circular economy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:54:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f76f8c754214373ae6451772aa12bb7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:54:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f76f8c754214373ae6451772aa12bb72023-11-22T12:01:05ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332021-09-01129122210.3390/atmos12091222Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure SlurryThomas Sepperer0Alexander Petutschnigg1Konrad Steiner2Forest Products Technology and Timber Construction Department, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Markt 136a, 5431 Kuchl, AustriaForest Products Technology and Timber Construction Department, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Markt 136a, 5431 Kuchl, AustriaUmwelt-und Ressourcenmanagement Ursprung, Höhere Bundeslehranstalt für Landwirtschaft, Ursprungstraße 4, 5161 Elixhausen, AustriaWith the increasing demand for food worldwide, the use of fertilizers in the agricultural industry has grown. Natural fertilizers derived from the use of animal manure slurry, especially cattle and cow, are responsible for 40% of the agricultural ammonia emission. The EU defined the goal to reduce NH<sub>3</sub> emission drastically until 2030, yet until today an overall increase has been observed, making it more difficult to reach the target. In this study, we used two by-products from the dairy industry, namely flushing milk and acidic whey, to lower the pH of cattle manure slurry and therefore mitigate the loss of nitrogen in the form of ammonia into the atmosphere, making it available in the soil. Measurements of pH, ammonium nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and lactic acid bacteria colonies were conducted in a lab-scale experiment to test the hypothesis. Afterwards, pH measurements were conducted on bigger samples. We found that whey effectively reduced the pH of manure below 5, therefore moving the ammonia/ammonium equilibrium strongly towards ammonium. Flushing milk on the other hand lowered the pH to a smaller extent, yet allowed for faster hydrolysis of urea into ammonium. The findings in this study present a suitable and environmentally friendly approach to help reach the climate goals set by the EU by using by-products from the same industry branch, therefore being a suitable example of circular economy.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1222dairyammoniakjeldahlmitigationlactic acidLAB |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Sepperer Alexander Petutschnigg Konrad Steiner Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry Atmosphere dairy ammonia kjeldahl mitigation lactic acid LAB |
| title | Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry |
| title_full | Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry |
| title_short | Effect of Flushing Milk and Acidic Whey on pH and Nitrogen Loss of Cattle Manure Slurry |
| title_sort | effect of flushing milk and acidic whey on ph and nitrogen loss of cattle manure slurry |
| topic | dairy ammonia kjeldahl mitigation lactic acid LAB |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1222 |
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