Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 2441: The Influence of Alkalization and Temperature on Ammonia Recovery from Cow Manure and the Chemical Properties of the Effluents (Sustainability)

Manure is a substantial source of ammonia volatilization into the atmosphere before and after soil application. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of temperature and alkalization treatments on the release of ammonia and ammonia recovery (AR) from cow manure and to characterize the chemical properties of the resultant effluents. In a closed glass reactor, 100 g of fresh cow manure was mixed with 100 mL of deionized water and the mixture was treated with various volume of KOH to increase the manure pH to 7, 9, and 12. Ammonia was distilled from the mixture at temperatures of 75, 85, 95, and 100 °C for a maximum of 5 h. Ammonia was received as diluted boric and sulfuric acids. Results indicated that the highest ammonia recovery was 86.3% and 90.2%, which were achieved at a pH of 12 and temperatures of 100 and 95 °C, respectively. The recovered ammonia in boric acid was higher than in sulfuric acid, except at a pH of 12 and temperatures of 95 and 100 °C. The effluents, after ammonia was removed, showed that the variation in pH ranged between 6.30 and 9.38. The electrical conductivity ranged between 4.5 and 9. (dS m−1) and total potassium ranged between 9.4 and 57.2 mg kg−1.