A sustainable solution for pig manure treatment: Environmental compliance with the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control directive. Contract COOP-CT-2005-017641

Pig farming is a major EU agricultural industry, with about 300 million tons of manure produced annually by the SME farmers. This is a major environmental problem, resulting in severe pollution of ground water and eutrophication of surface waters due to high nitrate, ammonia and phosphate emissions. This project provides an integrated solution using a combination of innovative technologies, thereby enabling the farmers to attain environmental compliance with the IPPC, and Waste directives.

The project develops UASB technology for a digester, combined with dilution by Brammox effluent to prevent ammonia and sulphur inhibition. C-digestion with several other organic wastes will improve biogas output. The Anphos process will remove phosphate as struvite, as well as ammonia removal with precipitation of the non-digested solids. The Brammox process will be used for the first time for the removal of ammonia from the digested pig manure. PIGMAN will develop nitrification/denitrification in an activated sludge process combined with ultra filtration membranes (Biomembrane process).