A herd of cattle rest under fans at a farm in Gimhae, 449 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 14, 2021. (Yonhap)
DAEJEON, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean researchers have developed new technology that uses fermented rice husks and effective microorganisms to address the bad odor of livestock waste.
A research team from the Korea Institute of Energy Research said Tuesday that it compounded a photosynthetic bacterium called rhodobacter sphaeroides into a cultivated effective microorganism.
Using the effective microorganism, the research team succeeded in removing more than 99 percent of ammonia, the main cause of bad odors associated with livestock waste, within 30 minutes.
Heat of 60 to 80 degrees Celsius was also generated during the process of dissolving sludge, a sediment created during the livestock industry’s water treatment process, thus contributing to reducing the energy cost for drying.
At present, the livestock industry uses expensive sawdust to dry sludge.
The research team opted for a method that uses rice husk instead, which is about 25 to 40 percent cheaper than sawdust, thus reducing the composting time by more than 80 percent.
With the benefit of the oxidation heat generated by the effective microorganism, the weight of the sludge is reduced by 91 percent in nine days, making it more than three times faster than sawdust.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
