Manure solids separation by filtration with four crop residues

Laboratory research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of using f ive crop residues as filters to separate solids from liquid swine manure. S olids removal efficiencies and plugging characteristics were examined Oat s traw, soybean stubble, and corn stover were found to be effective filter ma terials; corncobs and ground corncobs were not. As expected, solids removal efficiencies were higher for manure with 6.0% solids initially than for ma nure with 1.4% solids, but plugging occurred sooner. Most of the separation occurred within the top portion of the filters.