Waste & environment
Manure Drying Systems
Manure drying systems reduce fresh manure moisture from 70–80% to 30–40% or lower for volume reduction, ammonia control and downstream handling as fertiliser or feedstock.
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Role within the project
Drying is the pivot between welfare compliance (ammonia and moisture in-house) and commercial value recovery (fertiliser, energy).
Typical applications
- Cage-layer manure-belt aeration
- Tunnel drying units
- In-house passive drying (belt aeration)
Selection criteria
- Target output moisture
- Energy source (waste heat, gas, electric)
- Odour and ammonia capture
- Integration with existing belt system
Engineering considerations
- Air-flow, temperature and residence time for target moisture
- Ammonia scrubber or biofilter downstream
- Fire and dust safety on dried product
- Storage after drying — moisture uptake
Commercial considerations
- Per-tonne-of-manure CAPEX
- Payback via fertiliser value or waste-cost avoidance
- Regulatory driver in some jurisdictions
Procurement considerations
- Trial run on your manure moisture and composition
- Energy source confirmed against site utility profile
- Ammonia capture guarantee where locally required
Common mistakes
- Choosing on nameplate capacity without moisture-in data
- Ignoring ammonia and odour capture — local complaints
- Dried product re-wetted in open storage
- No fire / dust safety analysis
Ask suppliers
Ask for measured output moisture at your inbound moisture and composition, and downstream ammonia capture results.
Related resources
Frequently asked
Why dry manure?
Dried manure has 3–5× the fertiliser value per tonne, lower transport cost, better handling and lower ammonia release. In many jurisdictions drying is required before export or land-application above a threshold.
Do all farms need drying?
No. Small farms and cage-free operations often handle wet litter via composting. Drying pays back on high-throughput cage-layer sites and where regulation demands it.