bluTEQ Infrared Solutions – Manure Treatment Auger

About the Solution:

Manufacturers Study: Baldwin Dairy, Baldwin WI

Purpose: To provide dairy cows with 99% pathogen free manure bedding which we believed would reduce infection and lead to lower SCC counts.

Study Period: 150 days beginning in May 2017 and concluded in September 2017.

Participating diary: Baldwin Dairy, Baldwin, WI (920 dairy cows)

BLUTEQ PROCESS: After leaving a lagoon and pressed through a WAM press machine, the 28% dry manure was delivered to the BluTEQ IR70 Auger which bombards the manure with infrared heat as it moves through the auger for 10 minutes. The inside auger temperature was consistently above 145˚F and at times reached 170˚F. The system ran 7 days a week, 15 hours a day and produced one ton per hour of dry, clean and pathogen free bedding. The 15 tons of this clean manure was delivered to the dairy stalls as bedding.

System Description: BluTEQ IR70 Auger; 32 feet long; 1 hopper and 3 seven foot heaters; 208 Volt, 250 Watts.

Principle Behind Infrared Sterilization: As bacteria moves through the auger the infrared rays heat up the liquid inside the bacteria to such a high temperature that the bacteria explodes killing the bacteria.

Bedding Material Use: 15 tons of dry, clean and pathogen free bedding was put down in the dairy cows’ stalls on top of the previous day’s bedding every day.

Test Results: The clean manure leaving the auger was always in the 99% clean range. All the pathogens were dead. The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota tested all the manure bedding. The attached chart is a sample of the testing. It shows reductions in Bacillus, Coliform, Environ Strep, Non-Coliform Gram Negative and Staph Species were all tested for.

Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) were reduced over the 5 month testing period from 526 to 310, a 225 point reduction. As the SCC counts reduced the dairy improved their value in milk.

Operating Costs: Baldwin Dairy pays $.07 per Kilowatt hour for electricity. The cost of operating the system was approximately $2,500 per month. The man hours to deliver the clean manure to the stalls was not covered in the study. In the event the dairy goes to delivering bedding every other day, the man hour costs and electricity costs will be cut in half.

IR70 Auger Maintenance: The 3 infrared heaters on the auger needs replacing every 3rd year. Estimated cost per heater is $1,200. The auger needs to be greased once a month in designated areas.