The Hindu Business Line : Poultry droppings may no more be a foul-smelling waste

POULTRY droppings may soon be not treated as some unwanted, smelly matter. Scientists in the US have turned these droppings into a product that can clean polluted waters.

The poultry droppings or manure are converted into granules or powder through by heating. When the poultry waste, including feathers and bedding material, is heated to about 700 degrees Celsius, it is stripped of oxygen and takes on new qualities such as a large surface area and high porosity. The material also derives sponge-like qualities, ideal for mopping up pollutants.

The findings should be viewed in the background that the manure produced by animals is around 15 crore tonnes annually in the US. In India, the figure could be double given the sheer size of the cattle and poultry.

The charred material derived from this, according to the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture, behaves like a magnet. It attracts metals such as copper, zinc and cadmium that are present in polluted waters.

The scientists, Ms Isabel M. Lima and Mr Wayne E. Marshall, say the charred material can be used in wastewater management. They had begun work on the project to reduce poultry waste mass and find some valuable use.

The charred material will require less energy to produce than activated carbons, such as coal and coconut shells that are the current standard material for filtering pollutants from wastewater. The scientists think that their unique filtering material can be used in a variety of waste-treatment scenarios. They have produced pellets, granules and powders to accommodate different filtering structures, from water tanks to columns.

The other products that attract metals are ion-exchange resins. But they are synthetic and very expensive to produce.

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Poultry droppings may no more be a foul-smelling waste