Livestock Farms

I. Customer Pain Points

Animal husbandry farms (raising pigs, dairy cows, and poultry) face three major challenges in manure treatment, breeding environment control, and feed safety: high ammonia concentrations, difficulties in manure resource utilization, and heavy metal residues, which directly threaten animal health, environmental compliance, and farming profitability.

With high ammonia concentrations, animals face significant stress and mortality risks.

The decomposition of manure in livestock and poultry houses produces ammonia (NH₃, concentration 50–200 ppm) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S, 10–50 ppm), far exceeding the requirements of China's NY/T 388-1999 "Environmental Quality Standards for Livestock and Poultry Farms" which stipulate "ammonia ≤25 ppm and hydrogen sulfide ≤10 ppm." Traditional methods of "ventilation combined with deodorant spraying" can only reduce concentrations by approximately 20%. A pig farm operated by a client of Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon Cooperative experienced severe losses when ammonia levels exceeded the limit (180 ppm), resulting in the death of 300 piglets due to stress-related causes and economic losses exceeding 400,000 yuan.

The resource utilization of fecal waste is challenging, and compliance with environmental regulations poses significant pressure.

The livestock farm manure contains high concentrations of organic matter (COD 10,000–50,000 mg/L, ammonia nitrogen 500–2,000 mg/L) and heavy metals (copper 0.5–2 mg/L, zinc 1–5 mg/L). It must comply with China's GB 18596-2001 "Emission Standards for Pollutants from Livestock and Poultry Farming" (COD ≤ 400 mg/L, ammonia nitrogen ≤ 80 mg/L) and the EU Regulation EC 1069/2009 (heavy metals ≤ 0.5 mg/kg). Traditional methods combining "anaerobic fermentation + sedimentation" achieve a COD removal rate of less than 50%, resulting in annual environmental fines of up to 300,000 yuan per enterprise (2022 industry data). A dairy farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon was ordered to rectify violations due to excessive manure levels and suspended operations for one month.

Residual heavy metal residues in feed pose significant safety risks to livestock products

Trace element premixes for feed (containing copper and zinc) are prone to excessive addition, and the traditional "adsorption method" has not been optimized for heavy metals. Copper residue exceeds 2 mg/kg and zinc residue exceeds 5 mg/kg (both surpassing the limits set by China GB 13078-2017 "Hygienic Standard for Feed"). A poultry farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon once had to destroy 100,000 eggs due to excessive copper content in eggs (3.2 mg/kg), resulting in losses exceeding 200,000 yuan.

II. Application Objectives

The four core objectives of using activated carbon in livestock farms are closely aligned with "environmental improvement, resource utilization of manure, feed safety, and cost reduction":

Reduce the concentration of harmful gases to safeguard animal health

Using modified activated carbon (loaded with amino groups, specific surface area 1200–1500 m²/g), ammonia (≈0.4 nm) and hydrogen sulfide (≈0.36 nm) are precisely adsorbed, achieving adsorption capacities of 200–300 mg/g for ammonia and 150–250 mg/g for hydrogen sulfide; this reduces in-house ammonia concentrations to <20 ppm and hydrogen sulfide levels to <8 ppm (exceeding NY/T 388-1999 standards). Following application at a pig farm operated by a client of Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon, the stress-related mortality rate of piglets decreased from 15% to 2%.

Promote resource utilization of fecal waste to ensure environmental compliance

Using mesoporous activated carbon (with 50% particles sized 2–50 nm and a specific surface area of 1500 m²/g) to adsorb organic matter (COD) and heavy metals (copper, zinc) from manure, the COD removal rate exceeded 95% (reduced to <300 mg/L), with copper <0.3 mg/L and zinc <1.0 mg/L, meeting standards GB 18596-2001 and EC 1069/2009. At a dairy farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon, this solution increased the manure resource recovery rate from 40% to 90% and eliminated annual environmental fines from ¥300,000 to zero.

Remove heavy metals from feed to ensure the safety of livestock products

Using food-grade activated carbon (ash content ≤0.5%) to adsorb excess copper (≈0.4 nm) and zinc (≈0.3 nm) in feed, the residual levels were controlled at <1.0 mg/kg for copper and <3.0 mg/kg for zinc (compliant with GB 13078-2017). After application at a poultry farm operated by a client of Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon, egg copper residue decreased from 3.2 mg/kg to 0.8 mg/kg, preventing unnecessary losses due to product disposal.

Reduce breeding costs and improve profitability

The operational cost of the activated carbon process ranges only 0.5–1.0 yuan per head (for pigs) or 0.2–0.5 yuan per bird (for poultry), which is one-third of that for the "ventilation + deodorant" method, and can be regenerated 3–5 times at a cost equivalent to 30% of new carbon production. A pig farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon has achieved an annual cost reduction of 500,000 yuan and an 8-percentage-point improvement in profit margin.

III. Application Significance

The application of activated carbon in livestock farms serves as the core foundation for enterprises to achieve a balance between animal health, environmental compliance, and breeding efficiency.

The baseline of animal health: Globally, 30% of livestock and poultry deaths are attributed to "hazardous gas stress." Activated carbon is one of the few technologies capable of stably adsorbing ammonia and hydrogen sulfide under humid conditions, directly preventing mass mortality (as demonstrated by a pig farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhua Sheng Carbon, which avoided annual losses of 400,000 yuan after implementation).

Environmental Compliance Survival: In 2022,60% of environmental penalties imposed on the livestock industry were due to excessive fecal pollutant discharge. Activated carbon stands out as one of the few technologies capable of simultaneously removing both COD and heavy metals while maintaining cost control, effectively avoiding production halts for rectification (a company incurred losses exceeding 1 million yuan due to excessive fecal pollutants).

Enhanced farming efficiency: The resource utilization rate of manure increased from 40% to 90%, generating an additional annual organic fertilizer revenue of 300,000 yuan for a dairy farm partnered with Shanxi Xinhua Shengtan; control of heavy metals in feed improved the compliance rate of livestock products from 85% to 99%, while preventing annual losses due to product destruction amounting to 200,000 yuan at a poultry farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhua Shengtan.

IV. Application History

The application of activated carbon in livestock farms has been progressively enhanced alongside the upgrading of environmental protection standards for animal husbandry and growing demands for animal welfare.

1990s: Initial Stage

The Danish DLG Group pioneered the use of granular activated carbon (GAC, with a specific surface area of 800 m²/g) to treat ammonia gas in dairy barns at a concentration of 80 ppm, reducing it to 30 ppm through an "adsorption-ventilation" approach, marking the world's first case of utilizing activated carbon to enhance livestock farming environments.

2000s: Promotion Phase

China's "Tenth Five-Year Plan" for animal husbandry listed "manure resource utilization" as a priority and promoted the widespread adoption of mesoporous activated carbon. In 2008, after using mesoporous activated carbon, Wen's Co., Ltd. (a leading poultry company) – a partner of Shanxi Xinhua Sheng Carbon – saw its COD removal rate from manure increase from 45% to 92%, becoming the first enterprise in China to meet the requirements of GB 18596-2001.

2020s: The Intelligent Phase

China's "14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Animal Husbandry Development" requires a "manure resource utilization rate of ≥80%". By integrating activated carbon with an "IoT gas sensor + automatic adsorption" system, precise odor control (e.g., automatically adjusting activated carbon dosage based on ammonia concentration in the livestock pen) can be achieved, reducing operating costs by 25%.

V. Mechanism of Action

Through a triple mechanism of "modified adsorption + mesoporous purification + heavy metal complexation," activated carbon effectively addresses issues such as excessive harmful gases, elevated fecal pollutant levels, and heavy metals in livestock feed at agricultural farms.

1. Modified adsorption: Targeted capture of surface functional groups

The amino groups (-NH₂) on the activated carbon surface undergo nucleophilic addition reactions with ammonia (NH₃) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), increasing the adsorption capacity to 200–300 mg/g for ammonia and 150–250 mg/g for hydrogen sulfide—three times that of conventional activated carbon—and maintaining stable adsorption performance under humid conditions (humidity> 70%) with a decay rate <10%.

2. Mesoporous purification: Resource utilization of fecal waste through pore structure

Mesopores (2–50 nm, accounting for 50%): Adsorb organic matter (COD, molecular size ≈ 0.5–1 nm) from fecal waste via van der Waals forces, achieving a COD removal rate>95%.

Microholes (<2 nm): Adsorb heavy metals (copper ≈ 0.4 nm, zinc ≈ 0.3 nm) by forming complexes with surface oxygen-containing functional groups (-OH, -COOH); copper residue <0.3 mg/L and zinc residue <1.0 mg/L.

3. Heavy metal complexation: "Precision control" for feed safety

The micropores (<2 nm) of food-grade activated carbon (ash content ≤ 0.5%) adsorb excess copper (≈0.4 nm) and zinc (≈0.3 nm) in feed through size exclusion and complexation effects, reducing residual levels to <1.0 mg/kg for copper and <3.0 mg/kg for zinc (compliant with GB 13078-2017), without interfering with essential trace elements (iron ≈0.35 nm, manganese ≈0.3 nm via electrostatic repulsion).

VI. Application Methods

The livestock farm employs a combined process of "in-house odor control (modified GAC) + manure treatment (medium-pore GAC) + feed purification (food-grade PAC)" covering all scenarios for pigs, dairy cows, and poultry.

1. Deodorization of livestock and poultry houses: Modified activated carbon adsorption system

Application scenarios: pig houses (ammonia 50–200 ppm, hydrogen sulfide 10–50 ppm); dairy farms (ammonia 30–150 ppm); poultry houses (ammonia 40–180 ppm). Compliance with NY/T 388-1999 is required, specifying ammonia ≤25 ppm and hydrogen sulfide ≤10 ppm.

process sequence ：

Waste gas from the facility → Modified activated carbon adsorption tower (filled with coal-based carbon loaded with amino groups, Φ 4–8 mm, specific surface area 1500 m²/g) → Flow rate 0.5–1.0 m/s, contact time 5–10 seconds → Ammonia concentration <20 ppm, hydrogen sulfide <8 ppm; adsorption capacities: ammonia 280 mg/g, hydrogen sulfide 220 mg/g.

2. Waste resource utilization: Medium-pore GAC fixed bed

Application scenarios: Pig manure (COD 20,000–50,000 mg/L, copper 1–3 mg/L, zinc 2–5 mg/L) and dairy cow manure (COD 15,000–40,000 mg/L, ammonia nitrogen 800–2,000 mg/L), which must comply with GB 18596-2001 requirements of COD ≤400 mg/L and ammonia nitrogen ≤80 mg/L.

process sequence ：

Manure → Solid-liquid separation (removal of fecal residues) → Medium-pore GAC fixed bed (Φ3–6 mm, 50% medium pores, specific surface area 1500 m²/g) → Flow rate 5–10 m/h, contact time 20–30 minutes → COD <300 mg/L, ammonia nitrogen <60 mg/L, copper <0.3 mg/L, zinc <1.0 mg/L; the treated manure can be directly applied to fields or used for organic fertilizer production.

3. Feed purification: Food-grade PAC adsorption

Application scenarios: Poultry feed (excessive copper addition, residue 2–5 mg/kg) and pig feed (excessive zinc addition, residue 3–8 mg/kg); must comply with GB 13078-2017 requirements of "copper ≤ 1.0 mg/kg and zinc ≤ 3.0 mg/kg".

process sequence ：

Feed raw material → Pulverized → Mixed → Added food-grade PAC (200 mesh, ash content ≤ 0.5%, specific surface area 1000 m²/g) at 50–100 mg/kg → Mixed for 10 minutes → Granulated → Copper residue <1.0 mg/kg; zinc <3.0 mg/kg.

VII. Application Process

Taking a pig farm operated by a cooperative client of Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon (with a herd size of 10,000 head, ammonia concentration of 150 ppm, fecal COD of 30,000 mg/L, and copper residue of 2.5 mg/kg) as an example:

Household Deodorization:

Swine housing (100 m × 20 m) → Installation of two modified activated carbon adsorption towers (each containing 10 tons of Φ4–8 mm carbon particles with amino-modified coal) → Fan airflow rate: 10,000 m³/h → Reduction in ammonia concentration from 150 ppm to 18 ppm and hydrogen sulfide from 40 ppm to 7 ppm (compliant with NY/T 388-1999).

dung disposal ：

Manure → Solid-liquid separator (removing fecal residues, SS ≤ 50 mg/L) → Mesoporous GAC fixed bed (2 units, each containing 15 tons of carbon particles with Φ 3–6 mm size, 50% mesoporous content) → Flow rate: 8 m/h; contact time: 25 minutes → Reductions in COD from 30,000 mg/L to 280 mg/L, copper from 2.5 mg/L to 0.25 mg/L, and ammonia nitrogen from 1,200 mg/L to 55 mg/L (compliant with GB 18596-2001); the treated manure is used for irrigation or production of organic fertilizer (annual output: 500 tons; revenue: ¥300,000).

Feeding feed purification:

Piglet feed → Pulverized → Mixed → Added food-grade PAC (200 mesh, 50 mg/kg) → Mixed for 10 minutes → Pelleted → Copper residue reduced from 2.5 mg/kg to 0.8 mg/kg (compliant with GB 13078-2017).

Regeneration and Reuse:

After GAC saturation → Steam regeneration furnace (180°C, 0.3 MPa) → The regenerated gas (ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) is sent to the boiler for incineration → The adsorption capacity of the regenerated carbon reaches 85% of that of new carbon, at a cost of only 30% of new carbon.

PAC sludge → Plate-and-frame filtration (with a moisture content of 60%) → Mixing with fecal residues for fermentation → Production of organic fertilizer.

VIII. Application Effects

Following renovation, a pig farm achieved significant improvements in key performance indicators (based on actual operational data from Shanxi Xinhua Shengtan's partner clients):

metric	Before renovation (ventilation + deodorant)	After modification (modified GAC + mesoporous GAC + food-grade PAC):	Amplitude Increase	Compliance Status
Ammonia concentration in the room (ppm)	150	18	Reduced by 88%	NY/T 388-1999
Stress mortality rate of piglets (%):	15	2	Decreased by 86.7%	—
Manure COD (mg/L)	30000	280	Reduce by 99.1%	GB 18596-2001
Iron copper residue in feed (mg/kg)	2.5	0.8	Reduced by 68%	GB 13078-2017
Annual environmental protection fines (in ten thousand yuan)	30	0	Reduce by 100%	—
Annual revenue from organic fertilizers (in ten thousand yuan):	0	30	—	—

IX. Core Advantages

The customized solutions for livestock farms offer four irreplaceable advantages:

The product is highly targeted and perfectly suited to various aquaculture applications.

The developed modified activated carbon (loaded with amino groups, specific surface area 1500 m²/g) is specifically designed to adsorb ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, with adsorption capacities of 280 mg/g for ammonia and 220 mg/g for hydrogen sulfide, maintaining stable performance in humid environments (>70% humidity). The mesoporous GAC (50% mesopores) is optimized for treating livestock manure, achieving a COD removal rate>95%. The food-grade PAC (ash content ≤0.5%) is tailored for feed purification, with copper residue <1.0 mg/kg. Following application at a pig farm partnered with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon, the stress-related mortality rate of piglets decreased from 15% to 2%.

Environmental compliance; comprehensive coverage of all required qualifications.

The product has obtained certifications under China NY/T 388-1999 (Aquaculture Environment), GB 18596-2001 (Wastewater Discharge), and EU EC 1069/2009 (Organic Aquaculture), fully complying with global standards for the livestock industry.

Resource utilization for enhanced efficiency

After treatment, manure can be directly returned to the field or used for producing organic fertilizer. A dairy farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon Cooperative has achieved an additional annual revenue of 300,000 yuan from organic fertilizer sales; control of heavy metals in feed has increased the compliance rate of livestock products from 85% to 99%, while a poultry farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon Cooperative has avoided annual losses due to product destruction amounting to 200,000 yuan.

Cost-controlled with high cost-effectiveness throughout the entire lifecycle.

Modified GAC: Can be regenerated 3–5 times (with regeneration costs equivalent to 30% of new carbon cost), resulting in an annual odor removal cost of 0.8 yuan per pig head—one-third that of traditional methods.

Mesoporous GAC: Operating cost ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 yuan per ton of manure (half that of the "anaerobic fermentation + sedimentation" method), reducing annual breeding costs by 500,000 yuan for a pig farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhuasheng Carbon.

X. Cost Analysis

Taking a pig farm with 10,000 head of pigs as an example, compare the cost differences between the activated carbon process and traditional methods:

project	Modified GAC + Mesoporous GAC + Food-grade PAC Process	Ventilation + Deodorizer + Anaerobic Fermentation + Sedimentation Process
Initial Investment (Ten Thousand Yuan)	150-200	100-150
Annual Operating Costs (Ten Thousand Yuan)	30-50	90-120
Maintenance Cost (RMB 10,000/year)	20-30	50-80
Total Life Cycle Cost (RMB 10,000/year)	50-80	140-200
Organic fertilizer revenue (ten thousand yuan/year)	30	0
Environmental Penalty Fees (Ten Thousand Yuan per Year)	0	30

XI. Why Choose Us?

Performance Verification: Having served livestock clients including Wen's Co., Ltd. (a leading poultry company), Royal FrieslandCampina, and Denmark's DLG Group, our activated carbon solution has earned unanimous acclaim for its "comprehensive odor removal and waste resource utilization." A pig farm collaborating with Shanxi Xinhua Sheng Carbon reported that after adopting our modified GAC+ mesoporous GAC, ammonia concentration dropped from 150 ppm to 18 ppm, stress-related mortality rates among piglets decreased from 15% to 2%, and annual revenue from organic fertilizer sales increased by 300,000 yuan.

Technical capabilities: By optimizing pore structure and surface functional groups for aquaculture applications, we have developed "amino-functionalized modified carbon (with an ammonia adsorption capacity of 280 mg/g),"  "GAC with 50% mesoporous ratio (COD removal rate>95%)," and "food-grade PAC (copper residue <1.0 mg/kg)" to address the key challenges of traditional processes—poor odor removal efficacy, difficulty in manure treatment, and feed safety concerns.

Global Services: We operate production facilities in Shanxi, Ningxia, and Fujian (with an annual capacity of 45,000 tons), offering a "customized production + localized distribution" solution. For overseas clients, we provide end-to-end services covering activated carbon selection, cultivation process design, and compliance certification (EC 1069/2009), ensuring prompt response within 72 hours.