International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 107

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International Journal of Applied Research and Technology
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Evaluation of Livestock Dung for Potash Alkali and Metal

contents

Babayemi, J. O., Ololade, Z. S., Onipede, O. J. and Dauda, K. T.

Bells University of Technology, Ota,

Available online: December 24, 2012

To cite this article:

Babayemi, J. O., Ololade, Z. S., Onipede, O. J. and Dauda, K. T. (2012). Evaluation of Livestock Dung for Potash Alkali
and Metal contents. International Journal of Applied Research and Technology. 1(8): 107 – 112.

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 International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 108

International Journal of Applied Research and Technology Esxon Publishers

Vol. 1, No. 8, December 2012. 107 – 112.

Evaluation of Livestock Dung for Potash Alkali and Metal contents

Babayemi, J. O., Ololade, Z. S., Onipede, O. J. and Dauda, K. T.

Bells University of Technology, Ota,

(Received: 28 November 2012 / Accepted: 08 December 2012 / Published: 24 December 2012)

Abstract

The levels of potash alkali and metal contents of livestock dung were evaluated in this investigation. Waste management in
developing countries has been a great challenge because of lack of adequate technologies, efficient and established
systems; hence, alternatives have always been sought for the management of municipal solid waste. Adequate knowledge
of valuable resources contained in the wastes could give rise to such alternatives. Livestock dung from five different
sources (cattle, goat, horse, pig and poultry) was assessed for their potash alkali yielding potentials and metal contents. The
potash alkali contents were determined by acid-base titrimetry, and metal levels by atomic absorption spectrophotometry,
following digestion of the samples. The potash alkali contents ranged from 0.9 to 8.0%; while metal contents ranged from
0.88 to 6.16, 2.27 to 14.24, 1.16 to 1.48, and 0.25 to 0.38g/kg for K, Ca, Mg, and Fe respectively; and 0.06 to 0.21, 0.02 to
0.14, 0.03 to 0.05, and BDL to 1.6mg/kg for Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd respectively. It may be concluded that the potash alkali
levels in livestock dung were very low compared to what is obtainable from pure vegetable material sources, while the
metal contents were comparable to those obtained elsewhere.

Keywords: Livestock Dung, Potash Alkali, Metal Contents, Organic Waste

Corresponding author:
E-mail: babayemola@yahoo.co.uk
ISSN 2277-0585
© 2012 Esxon Publishers. All rights reserved.
 International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 109

Introduction
Excess production of manure from large scale livestock management demands that alternative use of animal dung be
sought. An assessment of livestock manure production in Austria (Sager, 2007) showed that about 20.4 X 106 ton of
manure was produced annually. In some regions with real intensive cattle production, management of cattle manure is a
big problem to cope with. Some severe cases are reported in literature where the amount of manure produced by cattle was
beyond what could be safely applied on farm; the alternative resorted to in such places was the use of the sun-dried manure
for heating or combustion as source of fuel, while attempt had been made to use the resulting ash as replacement for
cement in concrete, which was not found to be very suitable (Şahin, et al., 2006). The most common application of
livestock dung is in the production of compost or used directly as manure for soil amendment in agriculture. Several other
applications have been explored recently. Its application in bioremediation of contaminated sites has been reported.
Investigations have also been made on its suitability as components of animal feeds. In some parts of the world, it is
traditionally used as source of fuel; and in an advanced form, heating plants have been fabricated which use animal dung as
energy source (Quiroga, et al., 2010; Florin, et al., 2009).
Quiroga et al (2010) reported an estimate of 7.7 million tones of poultry manure being produced in 2005 in Spain
and about 17,100 tonnes in Asturias; and heating ( fuel source) was suggested as an alternative use of poultry manure.
Poultry manure was said to have high heating value; hence, the plant at Eye in UK burns 140,000 tonnes of chicken
manure annually. A recent survey in northern Vietnam (Vu, et al., 2007) showed that apart from a fraction of pig manure
being used as feed for pond fish, and about 5% applied to crops, about 19% of the total pig manure was discharged into
public sewage systems, rivers and lakes. The population of horses living in stables in Europe at present was estimated to be
5 million (Lundgren and Pettersson 2009), and hence suggested the use of horse manure for heat production and the
resulting ash as fertilizer. Solid waste management has always attracted global concern, especially in developing countries
where efficient and established system of waste management is yet to come to stay, despite the daily geometric increase in
generation (Babayemi and Dauda 2009). Combustion of organic materials of vegetable origin and consequent potash
production has been studied to be a good option for waste management (Babayemi and Adewuyi 2010).
Potash is an impure form of K2CO3 derived from ashes, especially of plant origin. The details of its composition
and chemistry have been reported in previous literatures (Babayemi, et al., 2010; Kevin, 2003). Potash, from ancient times,
has been a valuable raw material in the production of soap. Local production is still very much in existence, with a simple
and inexpensive technology (Babayemi, 2011). Several researchers have investigated various agro-wastes, except livestock
manure, for potash or alkali contents: cocoa-pod husks, palm-bunch waste, sorghum chaff and groundnut shells (Taiwo and
Osinowo, 2001); plantain peel (Onyegbado, 2002); common African wood species (Adewuyi, 2008) and the peels of some
varieties of Nigeria grown Musa species (Babayemi, 2010). Among other aims, this study then seeks to evaluate the potash
alkali yielding potential of livestock dung ash. Also, since some previous studies have shown that K+ ions became
dominant cation in manured surface soil (Hao X, 2003), perhaps the determination of the potash alkali and metal contents
(K being predominant in potash) could give further explanations to the presence of K+ ions in manured surface soil, in
addition to the explanation that some cattle manure contains high salt content resulting from salt added to the diet.
Applications of sewage sludge compost and manure for amendment of agricultural lands are some of the sources
of heavy metal pollution in soils commonly reported in literatures (Harris, 2001). Analysis of some animal feed (Yan-xia,
2010) revealed Cd concentrations of up to 31mg/kg, while some fodder in cattle nutrition is amended with Cu (Wilcke,
2002). Hence, there is the need for continual evaluation of these organic wastes for their heavy metal levels. This study
therefore evaluates the levels of potash alkali and metal contents of livestock dung.

Materials and methods

The dung from cattle, goat and poultry were obtained from Benja Villa; while dung from pig and horse were
obtained from livestock site, Bells Secondary school, all in Ota, Nigeria. The poultry were local types which were allowed
free range.

Moisture content (MC)

A known weight (W1) of each sample was dried to constant weight in an oven set at 105oC. The final weight (W2)
was taken, and moisture content was determined as follows:

Dry matter content (DM)

It was given by:

Ash content (AC)

Ash content was determined by combustion of a known weight (W3) of each oven-dried sample contained in
porcelain crucible in a muffle furnace set at gradually increasing temperature up to 500oC for 4 hours. After cooling, the
final weight (W4) was taken and the ash content determined as follows:
 International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 110

Combustibles (CB)
The combustible biomass was given by:

Alkali content (Al.C)

Some weight (< 10g) of the ashes of each sample was dissolved in 250ml distilled water, thoroughly shaken and
allowed to stay overnight for complete dissolution of the alkali components. 25ml of the clear portion were titrated with
0.1M HCl, using methyl orange indicator. The titres were used to calculate the alkali content of the ash.

Analysis of metals
Using the method described by Miroslav and Vladimir (Miroslav, 1999), 0.5g of each oven-dried sample was
weighed into porcelain crucibles and combusted to ashes in a muffle furnace set at gradually increasing temperatures up to
500oC for 4hours. The crucibles and the contents were removed and allowed to cool. 10ml of 6M HCl were added to each
to dissolve the mineral contents. 10ml of distilled water were added and then filtered into 50ml volumetric flasks, and
made up to mark with distilled water. Aliquots were analyzed for metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometer at
wavelengths 766.5, 422.7, 285.2, 248.3, 213.9, 324.7, 283.3 and 228.8nm for K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd
respectively.

Non-freely available mineral contents (soil/ sand particles) (SP)

The residue and the filter paper (the filter paper was pre-weighed) in the analysis of metals described above were
dried to constant weight in the oven at 105 oC. The dried filter paper and its content were weighed, and the weight of the
dried residue was determined by difference.

Results and discussion

The results of moisture, dry matter, ash, combustible and alkali contents are presented in Table 1. The moisture contents
ranged from 46.6 to 79.5%; dry matter contents, 20.5 to 53.4%; ash contents, 13.4 to 60.0; soil/ sand particles, 4.0 to 56.2;
combustibles, 40 to 86.6%, and alkali contents, 0.9 to 8.0%. Table 2 shows the observations in previous works to be
compared with this study. While Table 3 shows the concentrations of metals in the samples; the values ranged from 0.88 to
6.16, 2.27 to 14.24, 1.16 to 1.48, and 0.25 to 0.38g/kg for K, Ca, Mg, and Fe respectively; and 0.06 to 0.21, 0.02 to 0.14,
0.03 to 0.05, and BDL to 1.6mg/kg for Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd respectively. The highest moisture content was recorded for
cattle dung, and the least for pig; and in the other way, the highest dry matter content for pig, and the least for cattle.
Poultry dung gave the highest ash content, and horse the least. The ash residue of poultry dung was not actually ash, but a
brownish mass resembling clay soil. The soil / sand particles were 56.2% of the dry sample. This might be as a result of the
feeding habit of free range local poultry; they consume considerable soil particles along with various organic materials
they feed on in the surroundings. This observation for local poultry dung could be a limiting factor for use as source of fuel
for heating purposes; the combustible organics in the dung were just about 40%. The reported use of poultry dung as fuel
in heating plants (Quiroga, 2010) might then be possible only for hybrid fowls, and especially those kept in cages. The
potash alkali contents recorded for all the samples were generally very low, compared to those reported for vegetable
materials. It may then be inferred that livestock dung is not a good source of potash.
Horse dung had the least ash content, least soil / sand particles and the highest combustibles. These attributes for
pig dung were similar to those observed for poultry. There is disparity between the results obtained in this study and those
in the references. The reason could be that the samples in the references were purely vegetable materials, while those in
this study were composed of highly heterogeneous mixtures of various materials making up the animal feed and
consequently being components of the dung. The heterogeneity may therefore be a limiting factor in using livestock dung
as source of alkali or other similar purposes.
The level of K was highest in horse dung; Ca, Fe, Cu and Cd in pig dung; Mg in goat dung; and Zn and Pb in
cattle dung. K, Ca, Mg and Fe levels were slightly lower than those obtained in some similar investigations (Sager, 2007),
while Zn and Cu levels were very comparable. Higher levels of Pb might indicate gross environmental pollution in the
vicinity of the study due to high traffic and industrial activities, combined with the nature of the livestock keeping (free-
range, except the pig), where the dung samples were sourced. Though the high levels of Pb were below critical soil
concentrations (100-400mg/kg: 20), it might pose risk to other components of the environment whose critical levels were
lower. However, further research is suggested.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The potash alkali contents recorded for all the samples were generally very low, compared to those reported for vegetable
materials. It may then be inferred that livestock dung is not a good source of potash alkali. Livestock dung could be a
source of heavy metal pollution, especially in an environment where livestock keeping is not well managed.
 International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 111

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 International Journal of Applied Research and Technology 112

Tables

Table 1: Moisture (MC), dry matter (DM), ash (AC), soil/ sand particle (SP), combustible (CB) and alkali (Al.C) contents
Sample MC (%) DM (%) AC (%) SP(% wt of CB (%) Al.C
dry sample) (% wt of ash)
Cattle 79.5 20.5 29.5 25.0 70.5 1.6
Goat 68.5 31.5 22.9 - 77.1 1.6
Horse 70.3 29.7 13.4 4.0 86.6 8.0
Pig 46.6 53.4 42.0 38.2 58.0 0.9
Poultry 67.3 32.7 60.0 56.2 40.0 1.6

Table 2: Ash (AC), combustible (CB) and alkali (Al.C.) contents of various materials to be compared with this study
Materials AC (%) CB (%) Al.C (%) Source
Livestock dung 13.4-60.0 40.0-86.6 0.9-8.0 This study
Wood 1.25-8.8 91.2-98.75 4.5-96.5 (14)
Agro-wastes 10.54-18.20 81.8-89.46 12.40-56.73 (12)
Musa sp. 6.3-12.0 88.0-93.7 69.0-81.9 (15)

Table 3: Concentration of metals in the sample

Sample (g/kg) (mg/kg)
K Ca Mg Fe Zn Cu Pb Cd
Cattle 1.76 12.39 1.40 0.25 209.7 56.6 50.8 BDL
Goat 1.18 13.62 1.48 0.29 58.3 69.4 33.9 BDL
Poultry 0.88 12.65 1.16 0.34 93.2 15.3 31.4 BDL
Horse 6.16 2.27 1.26 0.37 205.0 99.6 40.1 0.9
Pig 1.30 14.24 1.40 0.38 133.9 144.4 29.3 1.6
BDL: below detection limit