It may also be possible to transport solids off farms if they can be concentrated more than is now the case. No cost or revenue is included for either separated solids or the sludge produced by the chemical separation process. The system is designed to convert ammonia in the waste from swine buildings to nitrate, then turn the nitrate into nitrogen gas. The amount of ammonia gas produced should be reduced substantially in relation to the typical lagoon system used on North Carolina hog farms. Wastewater is recycled to be used to recover waste from swine buildings.
Surplus wastewater flows into an anaerobic lagoon and is eventually land applied.
Lagoon sludge will have to be removed eventually. The system employs an aerator that floats on the surface of the lagoon. The aerator is placed at the end of the lagoon into which wastes flow. The aerator, equipped with a propeller and tubes that extend to the bottom of the lagoon, supplies oxygen to the lagoon by moving liquid from the bottom of the lagoon to the surface. This project is an evaluation of a system designed to separate solid and liquid waste.