If urine and solid waste are separated, and the feces dried, odor and ammonia emissions should be reduced dramatically. Based on previous research, ammonia reductions of at least 80 percent are expected from a belt system. The belt system addresses these problems in the barn, where they first occur, unlike other waste management technologies that deal with waste after it leaves the barn. Ammonia is a problem because it can volatilize and move into the atmosphere. It may later come back to earth dissolved in rain water.
Ammonia is a form of nitrogen, which is a nutrient.
Excess nitrogen in waterways can fuel algae blooms. The algae then die, and decomposition of the plants depletes the water of oxygen. That can lead to fish kills. The researchers have already satisfied themselves that pig manure can be gasified. They sent manure samples to ThermoChem, a Baltimore company, which successfully gasified the samples.