Site selection of centralized facilities for animal manure treatment

The optimal location of centralized treatment plants of animal manures should consider both the environmental and urban regulations, and the transportation costs of raw manure to the plant and of treated manures back to the farms or the land where they can be spread. With the aim to consider these different aspects in a comprehensive approach, a methodology has been developed to identify the best possible locations of a centralized treatment plant in a defined area. The methodology developed, implemented in a simulation model, is based on the transport distance of manure and a ranking of the suitability of possible sites based on a multicriteria analysis (MCA). The methodology has been applied to an intensive livestock area where different management scenarios and treatment systems has been compared. The results obtained confirm the potential use of the defined methodology.