Patent ID: 7410589

Claim:
A method of treating manure comprising: a) mixing a quantity of manure with lime such that said mixture has a pH above 11.0 and ammonia is volatilized within said mixture; b) removing ammonia volatilized from said mixture during mixing, thereby producing deodorized and sterilized manure; c) adding a cationic, anionic or non-ionic flocculating or coagulating polymer to said deodorized and sterilized manure, thereby producing a slurry comprising a solid portion including flocs and a liquid portion; d) separating the solid portion from the liquid portion of the slurry; e) adding MgCl 2 , MgSO 4 , MgCO 3 or magnesium and a cationic, anionic, or non-ionic flocculating or coagulating polymer to said liquid portion, thereby promoting formation of flocs and struvite within the liquid portion; and f) separating the struvite-containing flocs from the liquid portion.