Nutrient recovery from manure

Liquid manure is a waste product of agriculture that is produced on a large scale. However, it contains valuable nutrients and other useful substances – which is why it has been used as fertilizer in agriculture for many years. On the one hand, it can be used to cover the nutrient needs of plants, while on the other hand, it can be used to maintain soil fertility.

In areas with intensive livestock farming, however, spreading on the field is not always possible because the soils in these regions are often already oversaturated with nutrients. As a result, the accumulation of nitrate in the groundwater, for example, can pose a serious problem. Therefore, excess liquid manure from regions with intensive animal husbandry must be stored temporarily, transported to less polluted regions in need of liquid manure, or treated to at least compensate for seasonal peaks.

Fraunhofer IGB is developing processes for the further use of liquid manure, in particular for the recovery of valuable ingredients such as phosphorus or nitrogen.