CIRCOW

CIRCOW uses livestock waste to form a circulating system for algae production, insect breeding, and electricity generation.

Issue

The meat industry produces 1.4 billion tons of waste every year, which is 130 times that of humans. Dealing with these problems is tricky, so you end up with contamination of rivers or groundwater. A large amount of nitrogen discharged from cattle manure promotes the growth of algae, and a large amount of algae results in the optimization of water quality.

Existing Problem

• Cattle raising is extremely destructive to the earth

People's habit of eating beef has a profound impact on the land. Cattle raising is like a weapon to destroy the land and other living things. There are about 1.5 billion cattle in the world, equivalent to 20% of the population. Cattle have to graze. To raise such a large proportion of cattle, more food must be fed, and a reasonable area of arable land must be given up.

• Disappearance of ecological rainforest

In pursuit of cheap meat, which has caused great damage to the earth, about 80% of the rainforest has disappeared due to animal husbandry; because of its economic benefits, animal rights other than animal husbandry have been neglected.

• Animal husbandry impacts global climate

The world's cattle produce 15 billion gallons of biogas every day, accounting for 14%-18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating global warming.

CIRCOW sustainable animal husbandry circulation system, composed of four tanks, integrates bioenergy technology (biogas power generation technology) and manure decomposition technology (anaerobic digestion technology) to improve the environmental pollution and high feed cost of livestock manure and wastewater.

CIRCOW recycles the biogas, wastewater, and fecal residue generated after the concentration, filtration, and separation of livestock manure. The biogas can generate electricity to provide power for livestock farms, cultivate the black soldier fly to decompose the fecal residue, and use the wastewater to cultivate asparagus algae. Then use the grown black water fly and asparagus algae as edible feed and nutrition for cattle.

CIRCOW creates a biologically sustainable cycle of livestock, reduces the cost of feed and electricity, reduces the cost of waste treatment, and improves environmental pollution.

CIRCOW mainly serves the animal husbandry that raises cattle. It can provide a complete set of service cycle systems, so that livestock farmers can reduce the burden of waste disposal and waste transportation problems, and can provide the by-products generated by the process to the cattle for consumption, saving Huge feed costs, the heat and biogas generated are converted into electricity for farm use. For the environment, it can reduce the flow of breeding wastewater into nearby water sources, causing environmental pollution, and it can also change people's view of the dirty environment of animal husbandry.

Our team actively participates in major cycle-related competitions, and participates in environmental design-related workshops and will soon discuss cycle design with the Danish Index projeect. Our team usually adopts open-ended discussions, and they can raise whatever comes to mind at any time and think about how to solve life problems anytime, anywhere. The works they participated in in the past have won many international awards. Members have practical work experience (internship) and study in Germany for half a year. At present, the team is starting with a circular design, hoping to make users more convenient, and at the same time contribute to the environment.

At first, we wanted to dispose of livestock waste separately, but this would have to be re-planned for each farm, and we didn’t know much about the existing disposal methods of livestock. After discussing with sustainable cycle experts and livestock farmers to understand how it works, we will The existing treatment system be integrated and adjusted into an equipment service system, so that the livestock waste can be processed first, and the reusable resources can be effectively utilized. The black soldier flies station is structurally changed from a flat plane to a multi-layered rotating structure, which can raise more black soldier flies and can also be used as needed; the growing station only uses glass at first, and then considers that if the algae can perform photosynthesis at night, Therefore, setting LED lights at the end of the glass can accelerate the growth of algae and improve the benefits of CIRCOW.

CIRCOW is different from the current way of dealing with livestock waste. There is no need to ask the industry to deal with the waste. It can be processed directly on the farm. The processing process can produce nutritional products for cattle at the same time. For example, the planted asparagus and algae can be eaten only by replacing part of it. Forage grass and black soldier flies can be made into various styles for cattle to eat, which can not only convert the originally polluted resources back to the farm but also generate electricity from the biogas generated, which brings huge economic benefits to the farm and also achieves environmental protection.

The equipment continues to look for eco friendly materials to be used in the CIRCOW because most of the current equipment uses FRP, which is a composite material combined with glass fiber and resin, but FRP is non-recyclable and has low reusability, which will occupy land resources and the high treatment fee causes secondary pollution. In the future, it is hoped that the CIRCOW sustainable animal husbandry circulation system can be adjusted to different scales according to the size of the farm. Through different exhibitions and promotions at home and abroad, animal husbandry can save costs and become a sustainable industry.

CIRCOW adopts biodegradation and biogas power generation technology. After cattle excretion, it is collected in septic tanks. Water and sludge are separated through solid-liquid separators, aeration tanks, and sedimentation tanks. Algae, the biogas produced in the process is desulfurized and sent to the biogas power station, which can be converted into electricity and supplied to the farm. The black soldier flies station introduces and processes thick silt and uses a vacuum insulation layer to keep the internal temperature constant. The top is provided with ventilation holes to make the black soldier flies grow rapidly. The internal rotating structure allows the owner to easily take out the edible black soldier flies. The growing station introduces the treated wastewater, and the station body use the light-guiding glass technology, which can use natural light during the day and can be illuminated by LED lights at night to accelerate the growth rate of algae.

CIRCOW is not currently in real operation. It is hoped that CIRCOW can provide services to 200 livestock farms after launch, and adjust the volume of the CIRCOW system according to the scale of services.