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MARVEL COMPOSTING SYSTEM FOR ON-FARM MANURE MANAGEMENT
CAT. #04013/09019 |
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PROCESS/ PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
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The Global Earth Products (GEP) MARVEL is an automated composting system that provides complete nutrient management for farms by composting manure and crop residuals to produce valuable organic fertilizer for on or off-site applic ation. Bulking material having high carbon content is combined with the manure in constructed concrete channels which are automatically aerated, turned, and temperature controlled. While eliminating odours and reducing volumes by up to 75%, demonstration s on liquid swine manure have also reduced methane emissions. Manure composting also remedies the problems of surface and groundwater contamination due to nitrate leaching and run-off from spreading applications. The MARVEL system has a wide range of pote ntial applications including all types of livestock manure, municipal sludge, and organic landfill waste. |
 Figure 1: The Marvel Composter |
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| Figure 1 shows the MARVEL compost turner atop one of the composting channels at the demonstration site at Ridgetown College, Ontario. The final compost is an odourless, weed-free, and pathogen-free organic fertilizer that can be stored outside, on a concrete pad or beneath a roofed structure. One element of cost savings is elimination of expensive, long-term liquid manure storage. Savings are also realized through reduced use of chemical fertilizers as compost is an effective supplemen t or alternative to chemical fertilizers and can be spread between cropping seasons. | Liquid manure nutrients are available immediately and may be in excess leading to leaching, whereas composted manure nutrients are released over time. Where there is no need for fertilizer on-site, GEP has a mobile organic pelleter syst em, which produces a pelletized product compatible with standard solid fertilizer spreaders. GEP purchases the compost for its own pelletized fertilizer product--Utopia Gold. | ||
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PROCESS/ PRODUCT APPLICATION:
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The MARVEL system has been demonstrated for liquid swine manure management. Potential swine farm applications are numerous, as there are approximately 20,000 commercial hog farms in Canada, and an estimated 80,000 in the United St ates. Most modern large-scale swine operations use a liquid manure management system, which involves both storing and spreading the manure. Land acquisitions are often required to accommodate the spreading. | In addition to reducing storage and eliminating spreading, the MARVEL composter provides productive uses of straw, cornstalks and cobs, and similar farm generated waste. Because the MARVEL system uses carbon rich organic materials as th e substrate which facilitates the natural composting process, rural municipalities could benefit by disposing of leaves, paper waste, shavings, and other organic waste. | In future applications, a MARVEL automated composter installed at a municipal landfill site could compost either de-watered municipal sludge in conjunction with wet organic municipal wastes, or raw sewage in conjunction with dry organi c municipal wastes. MARVEL is equally applicable to poultry or livestock manure; the first commercial installation being at a turkey farm. |
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PROCESS/ PRODUCT OPERATION:
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The MARVEL composter is an automated aerobic composting system that operates as a batch process. Aeration and turning are automated; temperature is monitored to optimize the batch process and allow customization for individual fa rming operations and substrate additives. The entire composting process takes approximately four weeks. The compost is then stored and cured for an additional 28 days, after which it can be used on-site or processed and pelletized by GEP. Table 1 summariz es performance results to date. The goal for commercial operation of the system is a manure to straw ratio of 8X. The result at Ridgetown College was about 6X. The demonstration system at Ridgetown College consists of three concrete channels each 7' wide, 6' deep, 50' long. A standard on-farm operation has channels 12' wide while the channel length can be varied according to the size of an individual operation. At Ridgetown, the first channel has a spigot floor with the spigots at 1.2" intervals coming fr om four lengths of 4" PVC pipe buried in the concrete. The second channel uses an 8" wide central plenum with regularly spaced aeration holes. The third channel has a 6" perforated PVC pipe. The channels are filled with straw or other carbon-rich organic material. Liquid swine manure, which is stored in an underground holding tank, is pumped to the composter where it is applied to the substrate materials. |
Figure 2: Composting Temperatures during Batch Process
Figure 3: Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio over Time
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