[Stoves] Drawing down the dung pile

Tue Dec 7 12:16:47 CST 2010

Kevin, all,

 From my experience here is that manure, even of the same animal type, 
varies all over the map. That because of the bedding (or not) added to 
it and of soil that can stick to it. Stones and dirt is heavy and a 
little goes a long way to changing the nutrient percentages. It is rare 
to find good clean manure no matter how careful one is to its handling.

The larger particles left after the washing will dry a lot faster, as 
suggested. But with clean dung of most animal types there is not much of 
it. I have tested a lot of dung from all types of animals, except yak. I 
wanted to experiment with some yak dung a few years back but was unable 
to locate any.

I gave a presentation on compost tea a few years ago for the US 
Composting Council. IMO the liquid should remain aerobic always. If it 
goes anaerobic other types of microbes quickly take over and all the 
ones we want die off. Toxins build up like nitrites, nitrogen is lost, 
and human pathogens are more common in warm anaerobic watery conditions. 
My understanding is we want the products produced from aerobic microbes 
in the tea. More than just nutrients. Therefore the solution needs air 
passing through until the available carbon is used up and when you turn 
off the air it stays aerobic long enough for application. I call that 
the 'shelf life' when I monitor the dissolved oxygen level once the air 
source is removed and plot its decrease over time. Making tea is a batch 
process as non can be added once it starts.

The washed manure varies in nitrogen, often depending on the hair 
present. Hair contains a lots of organic nitrogen slow to biodegrade.

As for the chemistry of the tea; The AgIndex is much lower than if 
determined before washing. AgIndex = [(N+P2O5+K2O)/(Na + Cl)] . 
Apologies for the weird units of P2O5 and K2O but thats the US. AgIndex 
above 10 is a nutrient provider and below two is a sodium & chloride 
provider meaning application is till just below toxic levels and another 
source of nutrients is needed. Between two and ten is good for most 
soils but one should formulate it from testing what is already in the 
soil. Because organic nitrogen, calcium, and in-soluble phosphorus can 
remain in the solid fraction and sodium plus chloride is mostly washed 
in with the tea, The AgIndex is lowered in the tea and raised in the 
solid. But, as said, it is believed compost tea is not just for the 
nutrients.

Regards
Frank

Kevin wrote:

> Dear Crispin
> Here is an articles on Manure Tea: 
> http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Manure-Tea
> I understand that the major beneficial constituents of Manure Tea are:
> * Protein, for direct feeding of soil micro-organisms.
> * Nitrates
> * Hormones beneficial to plant growth
> * Trace elements.
> * Potassium
> It also contains sodium salts, which may aggravate a high sodium 
> condition in soils in arid locations.
> I understand that it contains relatively low calcium and phosphorous, 
> in that they co-precipitate and would report to the washed dung.
> Best wishes,
> Kevin
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <mailto:crispinpigott at gmail.com>
>     *To:* 'Discussion of biomass cooking stoves'
>     <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, December 07, 2010 9:42 AM
>     *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Drawing down the dung pile
>
>     Dear AD
>
>     I think we much ask Frank to comment on this.
>
>     Frank can you test calorific value? If not I will try to get the
>     power station in UB to test for HHV, ash, volatiles and report
>     this week.
>
>     Kevin – what washes out? It is probably not a matter of fuel
>     conservation as much as making a workable device. It would be nice
>     to use as little fuel as possible (fertilizer) but far more
>     important to use wasted fuel for a useful purpose.
>
>     Frank, what is the CN content of washed v.s. unwashed dung?
>
>     Thanks
>
>     Crispin
>
>     Dear Crispin,
>
>     dung cakes are regularly used as fuel even in India. In areas
>     where the rainfall is scanty, and there are no trees, dung is used
>     as the main cooking fuel. In the high Himalaya, above the tree
>     line, yak dung is the only fuel available to the locals. The ash
>     content of dung is normally very high. In the case of animals
>     eating mainly grass, the ash would consist mainly of silica. I
>     have heard of a of filter press, which can remove the water from
>     the dung along with the dissolved minerals. This would leave a
>     product with a higher calorific value. It can be briquetted and
>     sold as a standard fuel.
>
>     Yours
>
>     A.D.Karve
>
>     On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 12:47 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
>     <crispinpigott at gmail.com <mailto:crispinpigott at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
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-- 
Frank Shields
Soil Control Lab
42 Hangar way
Watsonville, CA  95076
(831) 724-5422 tel
(831) 724-3188 fax
frank at compostlab.com
www.compostlab.com