Effect of Composted Biomass Moisture on Pelleted Fertilizers from Swine Manure Solid Fraction

Biomass pelletization has been proven to be a suitable option for the alternative use of animal waste aimed at lowering livestock farming environmental load. Despite this, the definition of the operative parameters for proper management of pellet quality is still on the go. In this research, swine manure solid fraction was composted with and without addition of sawdust as bulking agent and the bulk underwent compaction process into pellets at two levels of moisture (10% and 25%). The results of the investigation show that sawdust addition affect the surface of the pellets while pelletization of bulk biomass at 25% of moisture, showed better preservation of some important characteristics (e.g. total N, Humification rate) throughout the pelletization process.