Small — up to 3 t/h
Farm or cooperative scale, groove or covered windrow fermentation, one shift, semi-automatic bagging. Fastest to permit and to start.
Small-scale plant →
01
The capacity planning method
- 01
Establish the collectable feedstock
Tonnes per day averaged over a year and the peak month, with moisture. A poultry house, a cattle feedlot and a municipal collection route all have different variance — the peak drives the receiving area, the average drives the line rate.
- 02
Convert fresh mass to dry matter
Dry matter is what can become product. Fresh tonnes × (1 − moisture) gives the only number that survives the process, and it is why a wet feedstock needs mechanical dewatering or dry amendment before the numbers improve.
- 03
Apply process losses
Fermentation consumes 15–30% of dry matter; screening rejects 5–12% and are mostly recirculated; grinding and conveying dust losses are 1–3%. What remains is the cured mass available to the processing line.
- 04
Fix the product form and shift pattern
Powder lines typically run one or two shifts; granular lines with a dryer often run two or three. Product form sets the conversion efficiency from cured mass to finished tonnes.
- 05
Size fermentation volume
Daily volume ÷ bulk density × residence days, plus turning aisles and aeration plenum. This is usually the largest single area in the plant and the least flexible later.
- 06
Check the site and the utilities against the result
Compare the total footprint and connected load with the site you hold. If it does not fit, change the fermentation system before changing the equipment list.
02
Conversion table — fresh feedstock to finished product
| Feedstock | Typical moisture | Fresh : finished ratio (powder) | Fresh needed for 5 t/h · 8 h shift | Design consequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poultry litter | 25–40% | about 2.2 : 1 | ≈ 88 t/day | Carbon amendment for ammonia control; short fermentation |
| Cattle / cow dung | 70–85% | about 2.8 : 1 after separation | ≈ 112 t/day | Dewatering or dry amendment first; long turning lanes |
| Pig manure slurry | 88–94% | about 3.6 : 1 after separation | ≈ 144 t/day | Solid-liquid separation and a dedicated leachate strategy |
| Horse manure + bedding | 45–60% | about 2.6 : 1 | ≈ 104 t/day | Excellent C/N; dust and weed-seed management |
| Sewage / paper sludge | 75–85% | about 4.5 : 1 | ≈ 180 t/day | Bulking agent, heavy-metal screening, strict odour control |
| Green / food waste | 70–80% | about 3.2 : 1 | ≈ 128 t/day | Fast acidification; aeration and leachate design critical |
| Mixed organic waste | 55–70% | about 3.0 : 1 | ≈ 120 t/day | Blend consistency decides product consistency |
Ratios are planning values for thermophilic composting followed by a powder line. A granular line with drying typically loses a further 3–8% of mass.
03
Choosing the scale band
Medium — 4–10 t/h
Commercial scale with a granular line and dryer, automatic bagging, dedicated maintenance and quality control. The most common investment band.
Medium-scale plant →Large — 15–50 t/h
Industrial scale with parallel lines, bay or in-vessel fermentation, high automation and a laboratory. Feedstock logistics become the main risk.
Large-scale plant →Modular — 1–5 t/h, relocatable
Containerised or skid-mounted modules for urban sites, islands, mines and remote farms where civil works are the bottleneck.
Modular plant →04
Designing for peaks without paying for them all year
Feedstock availability is seasonal in most markets: litter is removed in batches after each flock, cattle are housed in winter, green waste peaks in the growing season, sludge arrives on a municipal schedule that ignores your fermentation cycle. A plant sized for the peak runs at half rate for most of the year; a plant sized for the average has nowhere to put the peak.
The practical answer is a design with two capacities: the process line sized for the annual average with 20–30% duty margin, and the buffer storage sized to absorb the peak week — covered reception bays, a larger cured-product store, or a batching tank for liquid streams. Buffer volume is much cheaper than process capacity, and it is the design variable most often left out of a quotation.
05
Try the numbers on the plant planner
The plant layout & utilities planner applies this method interactively: enter the feedstock, target output, fermentation system, product form and available site area, and it returns the fresh tonnage to receive, the fermentation area, the indicative total footprint, installed power and process water demand. It is a planning tool, not a quotation — but it is the right first conversation.
Have your capacity checked
Send your feedstock tonnage and product target. We return the conversion, the fermentation volume and the plant scale it implies.
FAQ
Plant engineering questions
How many tonnes of manure do I need for a 5 t/h plant?
Roughly 100–120 t/day of fresh manure for a single-shift powder line of 5 t/h, less if the manure is dry or if you add dry amendments and run two shifts. A granular line of the same output needs a little more because drying and screening lose further mass.
Is it better to build a large plant and run it partly loaded, or a small plant that is always full?
Almost always the small plant that is always full, with the layout, foundations and power provision reserved for expansion. Partly loaded fermentation systems are hard to control and partly loaded granulation lines produce inconsistent granules.
How much land does a plant need?
As an indication: 2,000–4,000 m² for a small plant, 6,000–12,000 m² for a medium plant, and 20,000 m² or more for an industrial plant, most of it fermentation and storage. The planner on this site returns a first-order footprint for your own numbers.
Can capacity be increased later?
Yes, in the following order of cost and difficulty: add turns or extend fermentation, add buffer storage, add a second processing shift, add parallel finishing equipment, then build a second line. Planning that sequence at layout stage is what the upgrade and retrofit page describes.
Send us your design basis
Tell us the feedstock, the daily tonnage and the product you want to sell. The engineering team replies with the plant configuration, the equipment scope and the information we still need before layout drawings start.
- Feedstock profile — type, moisture, contamination, seasonal peaks
- Capacity — t/day fresh material or t/h finished fertilizer
- Product — powder, granules, bagged retail, bulk compost
- Site — available area, power supply, water, access road
Prefer to talk first? WhatsApp +86 182 0399 3035 or email [email protected].