Economic Analysis of an Irrigation System for Liquid Manure Application
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 4
Abstract
Irrigation application of effluent from lagoon based systems is an important aspect of animal manure management in swine rearing facilities. This paper describes a procedure for obtaining least-cost components and operational parameters for an irrigation system used to apply liquid manure. The paper employs propositions from hydraulics—affinity laws and Hazen–Williams formula—to derive statistically estimable relationships between pressure, liquid output, power requirement, and impeller speed of an irrigation system. Coefficient estimates are then used in a spreadsheet based decision support system that employs an optimization program to select the least costly irrigation system. A practical application is showcased through simulation of three hypothetical swine farms. Main findings are that the use of this optimization procedure can result in cost savings for swine growers applying manure by irrigation and that the cost savings potentials increase with the farm size.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank Willem Vervoort for comments on an earlier version of this paper. They also thank the editor and three anonymous referees for valuable comments. They do however take responsibility for all remaining errors. Financial support of this research through a USDA special project “Animal Waste Management in Semiarid Agroecosystems” and the National Animal Manure Center is gratefully acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 4 • August 2006
Pages: 399 - 405
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: May 3, 2005
Accepted: Sep 2, 2005
Published online: Aug 1, 2006
Published in print: Aug 2006
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