Chemistry: fertilizers – Processes and products – Organic material-containing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-21
2001-11-06
Sayala, Chhaya D. (Department: 1761)
Chemistry: fertilizers
Processes and products
Organic material-containing
C071S022000, C071S023000, C071S024000, C071S028000, C071S030000, C071S034000, C071S036000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312492
ABSTRACT:
Animal manure or excrement is usually thought of as waste matter existing in a dry state, such as dried poultry litter. The animal manure is often in combination with various kinds and amounts of highly absorbent materials. These highly absorbent materials are employed as bedding materials in animal confinement residences for the main purpose of trapping and containing the animal excrement. The highly absorbent materials absorb volatile liquids leaving residual semi-dry to dry excrement in combination with the attendant absorbent materials in a semi-decimated state.
Animal feces are essentially a mixture of bacteria, humus, lignin, cellulose, and water with the elements nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur and calcium in poultry feces present mostly as water-insoluble organic compounds. These water-insoluble organic compounds must be decomposed before these nutrients can become available for use by plants in agricultural soils containing such manures.
Animal manure also typically contains urine. The urinary excretions are actually an admixture of urine in concentrated form with the fecal matter excreted together. About 60 to 80% by weight of the urinary nitrogen may be present as urea—CO(NH
2
)
2
and ammoniacal compounds. The balance is a mixture of insoluble uric acid and several other unavailable nitrogen containing compounds.
Animal fecal matter, particularly of poultry excrement, typically contains the following by weight:
moisture
64.8%
organic matter
30.7%
nitrogen
0.9%
P
2
O
5
0.5%
K
2
O
0.8%
NaO
0.2%
CaO
0.5%
MgO
0.2%
R
2
O
3
0.6%
Cl
0.1%
SO
3
0.1%
SiO
2
and acid insoluble
2.0%
materials
ash
4.7%
and trace elements. The trace elements include CuO, MnO, ZnO, B
2
O
3
, etc. and are typically present in an amount of about 0.005% by weight maximum.
Poultry manures are ordinarily found present in combination with one or more of several types of highly adsorbent materials such as saw dust, ground wood, wood shavings, plant stalks, shredded paper and similar large cellulosic content materials, as well as several other adsorbent materials such as peat moss and lignaceous peat compounds. A mixture of poultry excrement with varied amounts of such adsorbent materials is commonly referred to as “poultry litter”.
The present invention relates to the chemical treatment of animal manure to convert the insoluble organic matter containing plant nutritional elements such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, and calcium in plant unavailable form into soluble plant
utritional materials in plant available form. This is accomplished by solubilizing the organic matter and causing one or more of the following chemical reactions to take place: neutralization, oxidation, sulfation, sulfonation, deamination, decarboxylation, conversion of malodorous indole, skatole, and phenol into etheral sulfates and etheral sulfuric acid compounds along with several additional reactions.
Experiments have shown that, in addition to the above-noted reactions with poultry manure per se, similar solubilization and chemical reactions take place with the chemical treatment of the following named poultry tissues obtained from commercial harvesting of poultry: insoluble epithelial tissue (e.g., feathers, epidermal skin and insoluble keratin-containing tissue); cartillagenous tissue (e.g., insoluble chondromucoid, chondroalbumenoid and collagen); connective tissue (e.g., elastin and tissues consisting of insoluble polypeptide linkages held together by disulfide bonds as present in cystine, and in similar amino acids such as histidine, aragonine and lysine); bone (e.g., osseous tissue); and internal poultry organs (visceral) including lungs, kidneys, gonads, intestines and bowels in general. Thus, the present invention relates to the chemical treatment of poultry excrement, poultry litter, and/or animal manures and harvest wastes, singularly or in combination.
In accordance with the invention, animal manure, preferably a combination of animal manure and animal bedding, referred to commonly as “animal litter”, and which essentially is dry animal excrement in combination with cellulosic matter, is treated. More specifically, this material is treated with concentrated sulfuric acid having a strength of about 93 to 95% H
2
SO
4
. If the animal excrement is not combined with such cellulosic material, the animal excrement (manure) may be admixed with such cellulose-containing material in a proportion such that the combination excrement and cellulose absorbent product contains about 15 to 25% by weight cellulosic matter and about 75 to 85% by weight animal excrement.
The source of the animal excrement may be from any one or more of the following animals: cow, poultry, swine, goat, sheep and the like. The amount of animal manure or litter and concentrated sulfuric acid used should be in a ratio of about 5 to 7 parts by weight of animal manure or litter to about one part by weight of about 93 to 95% strength concentrated sulfuric acid.
The about 93 to 95% strength sulfuric acid is intimately combined with the animal manure or litter. This causes a temperature rise of the acid-excrement mixture from about 75° F. to about 160° to 19° F. over a period of several minutes. During this time period, the acid produces dehydration of the animal litter as the reaction continues with positive continuing thermal increases accompanied by very strong oxidation reactions. This is coupled with several additional chemical and physical changes all adverse to the survival of any pathogenic bacteria which may be present, such as gram negative salmonella, eschcoli, gonococcus, Brucella, Serratia, etc.
The waste is first sized (by grinding if necessary), preferably to less than 1.0 inch, more preferably to less than 0.5 inch and most preferably to less than 0.25 inch, then placed in an acid resistant receptacle and mixed with sufficient sulfuric acid of a concentration of about 93 to 95% H
2
SO
4
so that the mixture contains about 3 to 15% H
2
SO
4
by weight. After thoroughly combining the acid with the waste, an addition of about 2 to 5% by weight of a known germicide, such as pine oil (typically about 85% alpha terpineol content), may be made to the acid waste mixture after which all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. This mixture is then dried for immediate usage or stored for later use by heating to a temperature ranging between about 100 and 105° C.
The combination treatment of the waste, first, directly with the high strength concentrated sulfuric acid (about 93 to 95% H
2
SO
4
content), second, directly with a germicide such as terpene alcohol (alpha terpineol) and, third, with heat by heating the treated waste product to an about 100 to 105° C. drying temperature to effect removal of all uncombined moisture, results in a product which is bacteria-, fungi-, and mold-free. In addition, if terpene alcohol is used as the germicide, the introduction of the terpene alcohol into the mixture allows for partial conversion of the alcohol into an anionic surfactant to enhance the penetration and wetting properties of the soil to which the finished product is added.
The initial product may be wetted with about 6 to 8% by weight water, granulated to desired size and heated to about 100° C. to dry the product. The product can be used for soil treatment without further treatment. However, if it is desired to store the product, it can be treated with about 2 to 5% by weight of a germicide such as pine oil preferably composed of alpha terpineol (about 80 to 86%) in the form, for example, of a 6% aqueous emulsion before granulating and drying. This treatment acts as an antiseptic and germicide to prevent germ invasion during storage of the product.
If it is desired to effect an increase of plant nutrient content, the initial product described above may be treated with requisite amounts of chemical compounds such as urea, diammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, n-P
2
O
5
.K
2
O, etc. before addition of water and granulation. This treatment can be used to result in organic matter based formulations with a wide variety of primary plan
Jacobson & Holman PLLC
Sayala Chhaya D.
LandOfFree
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