An automated scraper system for swine confinement facilities (2018)

Abstract

"Manure scrapers are a practical and cost-effective option for mitigating odor and gas emissions from confinement livestock operations. Manure scrapers have been used successfully to reduce odors at free-stall dairies and to reduce H2S emissions at research-scale swine facilities. Recent evaluation of a scraper system at commercial tunnel-ventilated swine barns in northwest Missouri showed odor concentrations in a scraper barn were significantly lower than those in flush barns. Unlike flushing, the scraping process does not cause significant increases in odor concentration. In addition to offering a practical alternative to flushing for odor control, a scraper system aids in collecting manure for biogas production by anaerobic digestion. Scraper systems can be incorporated into existing deep-or shallow-pit flushing barns, or they can be designed for new construction. The cost of installing a scraper system in an existing 1,000-head finisher building is about $7,200, and the time spent on maintenance of the system is estimated at three hours per week. Assuming that each scraper system operates 12 times a day at an electricity rate of $0.08 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the monthly cost of electricity consumption by the scraper system is $8.20 per barn."--Page 1.