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
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.
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.