Development of a charcoal-fuelled dryer for the production of organic fertilizer from hog waste

Abstract

The negligence of livestock farmers regarding waste disposal and inadequate waste control facilities are becoming a serious health and environmental hazard. In this study, a charcoal-fuelled dryer was developed to eliminate the moisture content in hog waste for easy conversion into organic fertilizer. The dryer is made up a drying chamber and a heating chamber. The drying chamber consists of a stirrer and a frame, while the heating chamber consists of a charcoal heat source and a high heat conducting frame. The dryer was positioned between the two chambers and was heated directly from a charcoal pot placed below the drying chamber. Waste was continuously rotated by rotating blades attached to the stirrer’s shaft. A pulley, 100 mm diameter, was mounted on the stirrer’s shaft and it was powered by a low-speed electric motor. The dryer was tested and evaluated under varying moisture contents of hog waste and operational conditions. The drying efficiency was found to be 98.25% and the mean time for drying 5 kg of hog waste was determined to be 55.61 minutes at a moisture content drying rate of 5.4 J/min (0.0899 kg/min). The sticky-marshy waste was eliminated and coarse dry manure, which could be easily converted into organic fertilizer, was obtained.