The Rural Voice, 2004-10, Page 51The Ieadinq edge
Could hog farmers be oil producers?
Biodigestion. Composting. Solid
separation. There had been plenty of
proposals for ways to utilize hog
manure but turning it into oil?
According to the New York Times
an agricultural engineer at the
University of Illinois in Urbana -
Champaign has reported success in
turning hog manure into oil.
"Scientifically, yes, we did convert
manure to oil," said Dr. Yuanhui
Zhang, a professor in the department
of agricultural and biological
engineering. "But to compete with
Mobil and Amoco. we still have a
long way to go."
Dr. Zhang, who has been
researching manure conversion for
eight years, subjects a waste slurry to
heat and pressure in a process called
thermochemical conversion. Long
hydrocarbon chains break down into
shorter ones, and along with some
methane. carbon dioxide and water,
oil is produced, "though it's not as
good quality as the sweet crude we
buy, yet," he said.
He has finished a batch process,
converting about half a gallon at a
time. He said it had a good energy
return: "for every one portion of
energy in, you get three portions of
energy out."
The next step is to develop a
continuous process, then build a
prototype conversion plant. Dr. Zhang
envisions a future where every hog
farm has one or more converters,
about the size of a home furnace,
producing oil that is trucked or piped
to a central facility for further
refining.
Thermochemical conversion of
waste to fuel was in vogue among
researchers during the oil -crisis years
of the 1970s, when scientists tried to
make fuel from wood sludge and
•other materials. It proved too costly
then,. but there are now some other
waste -to -fuel projects around.
Dr. Zhang said he undertook the
research partly to find a way to
produce alternative fuel but also
because it provided a potential
solution to the disposal of waste on
modern hog farms. "It's a no -cost
material or even a negative -cost
material." he said.
Dr. Zhang said manure had another
advantage over other raw materials
like wood sludge: the pig has already
done much of the work. "It's easier to
process because it's been
preprocessed biologically," he said.
His process would also work with
chicken or cow manure, though it
would have to be modified. Human
waste would work with little or no
modification.
"Humans eat similar things," Dr.
Zhang said. "People hate to hear that,
but indeed humans are much closer to
pigs. I mean physiologically"0
Yeast puts natural fertilizer to work
A fertilizer product that includes yeast as one of its main ingredients is being
tested in western Canada as a natural supplier of nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium.
NutriSmart, developed by CK Life Sciences of Hong Kong, already is
approved commercially in the United States, where it is finding a fit with organic
crops and fruit and vegetable production. •
"It's a promising product," according to Dan Heany, who did the initial trials
while at the Olds College Centre for Innovation in Alberta.
NutriSmart comes in the form of granules made of phosphate rock, weathered
coal, starch, water and six strains of specially -treated yeasts. Once in the soil, the
yeasts in the granules are activated by water. According to information posted on
the NutriSmart website, plant roots penetrate the granules and form nodules,
which then serve as natural nutrient factories. The yeasts fix nitrogen from the
atmosphere, decompose the phosphorus in the granules, release potassium in the
soil and produce micronutrients that support the release of macronutrients for
plants to absorb.0
— Source: Western Producer
PEI researchers have
breakthrough in DNA
pork tracing
Scientists in Prince Edward
Island have had a breakthrough in
using DNA testing to trace pork
from the farm to the grocer's shelf.
Dr. Dan Hurnik, associate
professor of swine health
management at Atlantic Veterinary
College in Charlottetown was lead
researcher on the six-month
project which involved three hog
producers, three retailers. the
federal and provincial departments
of agriculture. the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency. the University
of Prince Edward Island and the
Island Food Trust.
The researchers tracked groups
of pigs from the three farms to the
stores' meat counters, collecting
samples at every phase of the trip.
Genetic technology was used to
trace the journey in reverse on the
basis of those samples. The
efficacy was nearly 100 per cent.
according to the research team.
"We threw in spiked samples
from other sources to test the
accuracy, and the process easily
found the imposters." said Hurnik.
who presented his findings to a
conference in the U.S. in March.
"We can now link pig to pork."
Shane Morris, national
biotechnology operations co-
ordinator with the CF1A in Ottawa
said this development is timely.
"It's a very powerful piece of
technology that will help us
mitigate some of the issues from
an operational perspective. What
we learned from the BSE crisis is
that BSE and DNA will always be
linked. This system will only
benefit us now in similar
situations."
Bob Harding, executive director
of the P.E.I. Hog Marketing Board
said fool -proof tracking raises
liability issues for farmers but he
pointed out that since liability
already exists, it's' better to have a
system that has greater precision.0
—Source: Rural Delivery
Magazine
OCTOBER 2004 47