Livestock Waste Sustainable Management and Applications

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2025 | Viewed by 457

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Guest Editor
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Interests: plastic waste environmental impact assessment; agricultural waste valorization; bio materials; geographic information system; rural area
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Livestock waste management is crucial for sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. Handling livestock waste improperly can lead to water, air, and soil pollution, releasing harmful gases such as methane and ammonia and contaminating water sources with pathogens and nutrients. Sustainable livestock waste management focuses on converting waste into valuable resources, such as fertilizers, biogas, and compost. Technologies including anaerobic digestion and composting help reduce the environmental impact by recycling nutrients back into the soil and generating renewable energy. This approach not only mitigates pollution but also supports the circular economy by enhancing soil fertility and reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers. Sustainable management practices contribute to improving agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental risks. Moreover, certain types of livestock waste, such as animal fibers (e.g., sheep wool, pig hair, etc.), have the potential to be utilized as eco-friendly building materials, offering several significant benefits. Animal fibers could be used as insulation construction materials or as reinforcement for composite materials; they are renewable and biodegradable resources that reduce the environmental impact to a greater degree than synthetic materials.

The papers in this Special Issue explore innovative methods for managing livestock waste biomass sustainably. Topics include efficient waste management, biomass utilization, and circular economy principles. These studies offer key insights into promoting sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. We welcome submissions on the influence of management practices and socioeconomic factors on agricultural waste systems. Areas of interest include reducing livestock waste, optimizing waste handling, valorizing agro-industrial byproducts, and eco-economic assessments of biomass strategies. Both original research and review articles are encouraged.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Livestock waste management and application;
  • Animal fiber valorization;
  • Biomass;
  • Animal byproducts;
  • Livestock waste valorization;
  • Bioenergy production;
  • Bio resource utilization;
  • Circular economy.

Dr. Monica Concetta Maria Parlato
Dr. Andrea Pezzuolo
Dr. Francesca Valenti
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • livestock waste
  • sustainable agriculture
  • biomass utilization
  • anaerobic digestion
  • circular economy
  • eco-friendly materials
  • biodegradable resources

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 1940 KiB  
Article
Study on the Performance of Filters Under Biogas Slurry Drip Irrigation Systems
by Shuaijie Wang, Haitao Wang, Xuefeng Qiu, Jiandong Wang, Shuji Wang, Hang Wang and Tao Shen
Agriculture 2025, 15(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15010030 - 26 Dec 2024
Viewed by 256
Abstract
Filters are essential components for maintaining the stability of drip irrigation systems, effectively reducing the risk of clogging. However, when applied to slurry drip irrigation systems, the complexity of slurry water quality makes it unclear how different filter types and their combinations affect [...] Read more.
Filters are essential components for maintaining the stability of drip irrigation systems, effectively reducing the risk of clogging. However, when applied to slurry drip irrigation systems, the complexity of slurry water quality makes it unclear how different filter types and their combinations affect the hydraulic performance of the system. This study provides a comprehensive performance evaluation of two common filter types and their combinations, considering various flow rates and biogas slurry-to-water ratios under drip irrigation conditions. The results revealed the following key findings: (1) In the application of biogas slurry drip irrigation, an increase in the concentration or flow rate of the slurry significantly affects the hydraulic performance of the filter, increasing the risk of clogging and shortening the operational lifespan. Notably, the impact of changes in slurry concentration on the hydraulic performance of the filter is much greater than that of the flow rate. Compared to mesh filters, disk filters offer better hydraulic performance, with the contaminant capacity of disk filters being approximately three times that of mesh filters. (2) In biogas slurry drip irrigation, the filter combination generally outperforms single filters in terms of hydraulic performance and contaminant removal capacity. Due to the unique nature of the water source in biogas slurry, a selection process for filter combinations was conducted. It was found that when a disk filter is used as the pre-filter and a mesh filter as the post-filter, the overall rate of head loss change is the smallest, and the clogging uniformity is the least. (3) In the entropy weight-TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation, the filter’s operating time and contaminant capacity are key factors affecting its overall performance. From the perspective of improving the operational stability of the biogas slurry drip irrigation system, it is recommended to use a disk filter + mesh filter combination. This study conducts practical measurements on the hydraulic performance, contaminant removal capacity, filtration accuracy, and other indicators of commonly used mesh and disk filters, aiming to provide useful references for the practical application of biogas slurry drip irrigation filters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock Waste Sustainable Management and Applications)
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