Manure Foam Emergency Prep & Safety Measures
In preparation for National Farm Safety week {September 18-24}, we wanted to share an article from the Iowa Pork Producer’s Summer 2016 edition of Headlines. Not only does this article highlight our long time customer, Leon Sheets of Ionia, Iowa, but safety protocols to be implemented when pumping and agitating manure pits.
Preparing for an Emergency
“I want to see all of you back here next year, so that’s why I’m so passionate and vocal about the importance of this issue,” said Leon Sheets at the 2016 Iowa Pork Congress about manure pit foam and explosions. This was after Leon shared his story of surviving a flash fire in one of his barns two years ago. Leon uses his story to inform other producers of the issue of pit foam but also to stress the importance of being ready for an emergency. In Leon’s case, he was only in the barns to do a quick rinse to prepare for pressure washing, which would follow the next day. However, his plans drastically changed when a flash fire happened and he received second and third-degree burns over 20 to 30 percent of his body
Leon advises other producers to “make looking down” a part of your daily checks. By “looking down” and checking your manure levels, you can help prevent an incident such as Leon’s.
If such an event does happen, having an emergency action plan could reduce the impact of that emergency on your operation. The first part of your emergency action plan details your operation information. This states your business description as well as site names, locations, managers, and phone numbers. The next part of your emergency action plan is a comprehensive list of all contact information. This includes contacts for site managers, manure spills, and system failure contacts. A hazard type, assessment of the hazard and our plan of action. Finally, to end your emergency action plan, there is a maintenance and training calendar. This shows daily, weekly, monthly and annual tasks to be completed.
In order to have an effective emergency action plan, it’s important that all staff members understand the plan before an emergency occurs, as you may not have time to read the plan during an emergency.
To create an emergency action plan specific to your operation, click here.
Manure Foam Safety Measures
In order to prevent flash fires and explosions, agricultural engineers, animal scientists and industry consultants have come up with recommendations to help producers. According to Iowa State University Extension agricultural engineers, these events show the caution needed when pumping and agitating manure pits.
Many gases are released into the air when liquid manure is agitated to suspend the solids so that the slurry can be pumped. Some of the gases released, such as hydrogen sulfide, are hazardous to people and animals. Among these gases is methane, which is very flammable. The explosion threshold of methane is 4 to 5 percent. If the methane concentration within a barn reaches it’s explosion threshold and there is an ignition source, like a heater, an explosion will likely occur.
As a producer, there are steps you can take to minimize the risk of injuries and flash fires.
- Provide continuous ventilation to prevent gas build up.
- During pit agitation, increase ventilation to quickly disperse released gases. In order to keep the methane concentration below the explosion threshold, it’s important to have sufficient ventilation. Run your ventilation fans at maximum speed to keep methane and other gas levels low. While agitation and pumping manure pits, a sufficient air exchange in a barn is two to three times the minimum ventilation rate.
- If your pit is full or nearly full, don’t rely just on your pit fans for ventilation, as they may be restricted.
- Use wall fans to supply air exchanged while agitating or pumping the barn’s manure pit since methane gas is lighter than air.
- Routinely check that your normal ventilation inlets, curtains or ventilation pivot-doors are open and operating properly, to help ensure good air distribution throughout the barn.
- This will help to prevent animal deaths (if animals must be present in barns) during agitation and pumping of manure pits. The part of the pit being agitated is where gasses will first build up in these areas. Move animals as far away from these areas if you have to pump with pigs in the barn.
- Turn off heater pilot lights and other non-ventilation electrical systems that might provide an ignition spark.
- This may be problematic for cases when there are no animals in the barn or there are only small animals that require warmer temperatures. This may require that you only pump manure from the barn on warmer days or a warmer part of the day.
Foaming in manure pits is a growing concern that could be related to explosion incidents. Foaming or extensive bubbling has been reported to occur on the manure surface before explosions. The Iowa Pork Producers Association has funded extensive research to determine causes and solutions to manure foam. There are no consistent causes or approved solutions to this complex challenge as of yet.
This article was originally published in Headlines Summer 2016, Volume 15 by the Iowa Pork Producers.