project - EIP-AGRI Operational Group

Ammosafe- Low-emission fertilization through nutrient recovery
Ammosafe - Emissionsarme Düngung durch Nährstoffrückgewinnung

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Completed | 2019 - 2022 Austria
Completed | 2019 - 2022 Austria
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Context

With the Emissions Act-Air 2018, Austria has implemented the EU NEC Directive, committing to a 12% reduction in ammonia emissions by 2030 compared to 2005. Currently, 94% of Austria’s ammonia emissions come from agriculture, with 42% resulting from manure application. Additionally, agricultural fertilizers pollute groundwater in some regions.

Legal requirements put pressure on farms, driving a transformation in agriculture. Increasing livestock density and restrictions on manure application create significant challenges. Spring fertilization often occurs under time pressure and unfavorable conditions, leading to higher environmental pollution and poor soil compatibility. At the same time, odor pollution is becoming a growing public concern.

Farmers are caught between environmental regulations, legal requirements, societal expectations, and economic constraints. To enable a sustainable transition, innovative, soil-friendly, and socially acceptable solutions are needed. Existing technologies primarily serve large farms and do not fit Austria’s small-scale farming structure.

The Ammosafe project addresses this gap by developing a mobile manure treatment solution tailored for smaller livestock farms.

Objectives

Modern animal husbandry as well as changing legal frameworks confront livestock farms with new challenges in the areas of manure logistics, air, groundwater and soil protection, nutrient efficiency and social acceptance. New processes and methods are therefore needed that enable an environmental and soil-friendly fertilisation. By combining two established methods of manure processing, this project will develop and test an innovative process. The mobile plant will be investigated with regard to the parameters feasibility, economic efficiency and effectiveness. In the long term, the aim of the project is to make a contribution to socially and environmentally compatible agriculture.

Objectives

Die moderne Tierhaltung und sich verändernde legistische Rahmenbedingungen stellen viehhaltende Betriebe in den Bereichen Wirtschaftsdüngerlogistik, Luft-, Grundwasser- und Bodenschutz, Nährstoffeffizienz und soziale Akkzeptanz vor neue Herausforderungen. Es braucht neuartige Verfahren und Methoden, welche ein sozialverträgliches, umwelt- und bodenschonendes Düngen ermöglicht. In Projekt wird ein innovatives und mobiles Gesamtverfahren entwickelt und  hinsichtlich der Parameter Durchführbarkeit, Wirtschaftlichkeit und Wirksamkeit untersucht. Langfristig soll das Projekt damit einen Beitrag zur sozial- und umweltverträglichen Landwirtschaft leisten.

Activities

The project will test a new process for the treatment of manure in terms of feasibility, efficiency and effectiveness. Essential project steps are:

  • -Planning and development of a mobile liquid manure processing plant including different plant cultivation trials
  • Implementation and its technical and economic evaluation of manure treatment
  • Review of the effectiveness of the measure in terms of nitrate shifting and fertilisation effect
  • Evaluation, processing and distribution of the results

Activities

Im Projekt wird ein neuartiges Verfahren zur Aufbereitung von Wirtschaftsdünger im Hinblick auf Durchführbarkeit, Wirtschaftlichkeit und Wirksamkeit getestet. Wesentliche Projektschritte sind:

  • -Planung und Entwicklung einer mobilen Gülleaufbereitungsanlage inklusive unterschiedlicher Versuchsreihen (pflanzenbauliche Praxisversuche, olfaktorische Messungen etc.)
  • Durchführung und unter anderem technische und wirtschaftliche Evaluierung der Gülleaufbereitung
  • Überprüfung der Wirksamkeit der Maßnahme hinsichtlich Nitratverlagerung und Düngewirkung
  • Auswertung, Aufbereitung und Verbreitung der Ergebnisse 

Additional comments

The project has shown that it is possible to remove up to 90% of the original ammonium content from liquid slurry using the technology presented. Crucial to success is a rapid heating process together with complete mixing and dissolution of the quicklime. In addition, the cost of the operating materials, first and foremost the provision of energy for heating, as well as the cost of quicklime and sulfuric acid, determine the economic viability of the process. It has been shown that a mobile plant for slurry treatment can be provided from a technical point of view. Now it is up to industry and developers to provide a market-ready plant for widespread use. In addition to the requirements already listed, scaling up to larger quantities of slurry beyond the pilot scale is the key factor. For instance, it must be possible to treat the entire volume of a slurry store in a reasonably amount of time. The trials have shown that 90% of the ammonium must be removed from the slurry, otherwise the effects on air and groundwater may cause negative effects. Thus, the treated slurry must either be transferred to an empty second slurry tank or transferred to a slurry barrel and applied immediately. It would therefore make sense to choose a process with continuous feeding, since discontinuous feeding in the batch process would cost too much time. In this way, slurry could be simultaneously removed, treated and transferred to a slurry tank for spreading. This saves time and costs, as no additional stores would have to be provided and the plant could be operated continuously.

Project details
Main funding source
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups
Rural Development Programme
2014AT06RDNP001 Austria - Rural Development Programme (National)
Location
Main geographical location
Oststeiermark
Other geographical location
Graz, West- und Südsteiermark

EUR 422 309.00

Total budget

Total contributions from EAFRD, national co-financing, additional national financing and other financing.

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8 Practice Abstracts

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Contacts

Project coordinator

Project partners