BMP testingAnimal excreta (slurry, manure, poultry litter)

Cattle slurry — BMP: 14 studies, weighted mean 236 m³ CH₄/t VS

Cattle slurry is the basic, buffering substrate of agricultural biogas plants; it has a low specific potential, but stabilises the process and supplies inoculum.

rating: very good CH₄ ≈ 54 % (estimate)

Published 12 May 2024Updated 29 October 20263 min readFeedstockData Editorial Team

Photo Ulita / Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 3.0, source file; changes: cropping

Weighted mean: 236m³ CH₄/t VS
Range: 156–481m³ CH₄/t VS
Records: 14studies
Publications: 5sources
Temperatures: 30 °C, 35 °C, 36 °C, 38 °Cof the test

Methane in biogas

≈52–55% CH₄

Medium methane content · ≈ 5.4 kWh/m³ of biogas

estimate from the substrate type The collected studies contain no measurement. The interval follows from the approximate composition (protein from total nitrogen (N 2.2 % DM × 6.25; in manure part of the N is ammonium nitrogen)) and the yields of compound groups according to FNR.

How we calculate it and what the zones mean

Rating for biogas plants

very good — editorial rating for biogas plantsWorth accepting even for free or with a payment to the supplier

Potential per tonne of fresh matter: low (14 m³ CH₄/t); stabilises the process (high alkalinity, supplies trace elements). Handling costs: sand, stones, shells.

editorial correction algorithm result: good; Role of diluent and base buffer of the feed (operating practice of a biogas plant operator): slurry is a very good base for the feed and a diluent, provided it contains no residues of antibiotics or chemicals (disinfection, detergents). The algorithm rates it low because it counts only the potential per tonne of fresh matter.

Why? Rating factors

Potential per tonne 0

±0potential 14 m³ CH₄/t fresh matter (BMP 236 × DM 7.8 % × VS 78.1 %)

Process stability +2

+1.5high alkalinity — stabilises the pH of the mixture
+0.5supplies trace elements (Co, Ni, Se, Fe)

Handling and costs −0.5

−0.5sand, stones, shells — sediment in the digester

Total points: 1.5 · thresholds: ≥ 2.5 very good, ≥ 1 good, below — neutral; negative with cumulative process risk.

Editorial rating per the methodology · confidence of the rating: high · excluding market prices

Add to the co-digestion calculator CSV data

BMP curves from 14 studies

Weighted mean Individual records

Dashed lines are a model curve (first-order kinetics, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt)); the end point comes from the publication. All curves are model curves.

Cumulative methane production over the test [m³ CH₄/t VS]. The thick line is the weighted mean of all records (236); dots mark the end values given in the publications. Point at the chart to read values; click a legend item to hide or show a record.

Show the remaining records in the legend (2)

Records and sources

Download CSV

Source	BMP m³ CH₄/t VS	Temperature	Sample	Curve
Lallement et al. (2023) · 1 DOI	224	38 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Lallement et al. (2023) · 2 DOI	291	38 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Lallement et al. (2023) · 3 DOI	481	38 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Luna-delRisco et al. (2011) · 1	196	36 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Luna-delRisco et al. (2011) · 2	238	36 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Luna-delRisco et al. (2011) · 3	280	36 °C · mesophilic	cattle slurry	end point (model curve)
Luste i Luostarinen (2011) DOI	210	35 °C · mesophilic	slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 1 DOI	190	30 °C · mesophilic	cow slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 2 DOI	210	30 °C · mesophilic	cow slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 3 DOI	228	30 °C · mesophilic	cow slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 4 DOI	230	30 °C · mesophilic	cow slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 5 DOI	233	30 °C · mesophilic	cow slurry	end point (model curve)
Vedrenne et al. (2008) · 6 DOI	385	30 °C · mesophilic	calve slurry	end point (model curve)
Pham et al. (2013) DOI	156	35 °C · mesophilic	Cow manure (VDI 4630)	end point (model curve)
Weighted mean	236	arithmetic mean 254, SD 85

Typical composition

Dry matter (DM): 7.8% (range 4.7–26.3)
Volatile solids (VS): 78.1 % DM (range 74–92)
Nitrogen: 2.2 % DM
C/N ratio: 16.3

Median and range of the determinations reported in the publications behind this substrate's BMP records (read from: MY-D); dry matter: 5 determinations, volatile solids: 4 determinations. C/N was calculated as the ratio of C and N content (% DM) from the same source.

Sources: Lallement et al. (2023); Luna-delRisco et al. (2011); Luste et al. (2011).

The composition of the raw material varies between batches — for plant calculations use an analysis of your own sample. The calculator inserts typical values automatically.

Process properties

high alkalinity (buffer)
dilutes the feed (low DM)
source of trace elements
sand and sediment
editorial classification

Advantages

Methane potential in the Substraty.pl BMP set: weighted mean 236.3 m³ CH₄/t VS (SD 85.3; 14 records, 5 sources).
Stabilises pH and supplies microflora and trace elements: the standard co-digestion base (Weiland 2010; Hagos et al. 2017).
Dilutes substrates of high load (fats, protein) and lowers the concentration of inhibitors (Hagos et al. 2017).
from practice cattle slurry, like pig slurry, is a very good diluent and base for the feed, provided it is free of residues of antibiotics and chemicals (disinfection, detergents) (operating data, not a result of BMP tests).

Drawbacks and risks

Low DM: large volume per unit of energy (Weiland 2010).
Sand from bedding settles in the tanks (Weiland 2010).
from practice the risk concerns residues of antibiotics, drugs and chemicals (disinfection, detergents), not cattle slurry itself.

Co-digestion — what to combine it with, what to watch out for

combines well
substrates: fat-rich — e.g. Food waste, Spent coffee grounds, Primary sludge, Sunflower seeds, Olive pomace / olive mill solid waste
Dairy slurry: base in studies with fat and decanter sludge.^[1]
combines well
substrates: easily degradable — e.g. Maize silage (whole crop), Food waste, Sorghum, whole crop, Whey, Beet leaves and tops
Buffer for whey and sugars.^[2][3]

Dosing

No limit on the share; it forms the base of the feed. When increasing the share of easily degradable substrates, maintain the share of slurry as a buffer.

Practical requirements

ABP cat. 2 (Art. 9 of Reg. 1069/2009): manure, slurry and digestive tract content may be digested without prior sterilisation if the authority does not recognise a risk of spreading a serious transmissible disease (Art. 13(e)(ii)); in that case a minimum of 70 °C for a minimum of 60 min applies (Reg. 142/2011, Annex V Ch. III Section 1), and where they are the only material of animal origin in the installation, the authority may approve other requirements (Section 2 point 3).
Provide for removal of sand and heavy contaminants: sand is often strongly bound to organic matter and is released only in the digester, and sediments reduce its usable capacity, so a scraper or bottom drain is needed (FNR 2010, Ch. 3).
from practice before accepting a batch, confirm with the supplier the absence of antibiotics and chemicals (disinfection, detergents).

Items marked “from practice” are biogas plant operator experience (operating data), not BMP study results — they are not part of the BMP mean or its statistics.

Sources of the process data

Pitk et al. (2014). Mesophilic co-digestion of dairy manure and lipid rich solid slaughterhouse wastes. Bioresour. Technol.
Kavacik, Topaloglu (2010). Biogas production from co-digestion of a mixture of cheese whey and dairy manure. Biomass Bioenergy
Hagos et al. (2017). Anaerobic co-digestion process for biogas production: progress, challenges and perspectives. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
Weiland (2010). Biogas production: current state and perspectives. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol.
Rozporządzenie (WE) nr 1069/2009 określające przepisy sanitarne dotyczące produktów ubocznych pochodzenia zwierzęcego (art. 9, 10, 12–14, 24)
Rozporządzenie Komisji (UE) nr 142/2011 wykonujące rozporządzenie (WE) nr 1069/2009 (zał. IV rozdz. III, zał. V rozdz. I i III)
FNR (2010). Guía sobre el Biogás – Desde la producción hasta el uso (hiszp. wydanie „Leitfaden Biogas”, GIZ 2013)
Praktyka eksploatacyjna — redakcja Substraty.pl (2026): doświadczenie operatora biogazowni (dane eksploatacyjne, nie wynik badań BMP; bez adresu publikacji)

The co-digestion calculator will assess a specific mixture containing this substrate.

What it is and where it comes from

Cattle slurry is a mixture of faeces, urine and process water from unbedded cattle houses or those with little bedding. It arises on dairy and beef farms, and in Poland cattle production is widespread, so it is one of the most readily available biomasses for agricultural biogas plants. The dataset contains samples of cattle slurry from several studies, tested mainly at mesophilic temperature.

Properties relevant to digestion

The dry matter of cattle slurry is usually low, in the order of a few per cent, and the organic matter has already been partly degraded in the rumen, so it contains a lot of hard-to-degrade lignocellulose. The specific potential is low compared with silage or food waste. The advantages are a high buffering capacity, a content of ammonium nitrogen and trace elements, and a rich microflora, which stabilises the process. The ammonia concentration is moderate and rarely causes inhibition at standard doses. Contaminants include sand from cubicles and residual bedding, which may settle in tanks.

How to read the spread of results

The spread of results is wide, because slurry is a material from a living system: it is affected by the feed ration, the share of silage and concentrates, milk yield, the age of the animals, and the type and amount of bedding and process water. Freshness and storage time also matter: slurry stored for a long time loses part of its readily available organic matter (in the form of methane emissions in the tank). There are also methodological differences: temperature, inoculum, the substrate-to-inoculum ratio and test length.

In biogas plant practice

Slurry serves as a base substrate and diluent in mixtures with substrates of high dry matter. Because of the low energy concentration, transport over long distances is uneconomic, so installations use local resources. On the farm, slurry is a natural fertiliser, and its use is regulated by the law on fertilisation and the protection of waters against nitrates. In the context of the regulations on animal by-products, it is a Category 2 material, which may be used in a biogas plant under the conditions set out in EU and national regulations.

For comparison with plant materials, slurry is a cheap raw material, available all year round, which explains its constant presence in mixes despite its low yield. Its share in the mass of the feed can be large, but in the energy balance it is usually smaller.

Methodology in brief

BMP is the amount of methane obtained from volatile solids (VS) in a batch test, given in m³ CH₄ per tonne of VS (numerically the same as NmL CH₄/g VS in the publications) and converted to normal conditions (0 °C, 101.325 kPa). The weighted mean gives each publication a total weight of 1, split equally between its results for the substrate — a paper testing twenty varieties does not outweigh a paper with a single sample. In inter-laboratory programmes the unit is the laboratory (total weight 1), and within it the weight of a test grows with the number of bottles (replicates). Results after pretreatment (e.g. thermal, chemical, enzymatic) are shown separately and are not included in the mean.

Solid lines are curves measured in the tests. Where a publication gives only the final result, we draw a first-order kinetic model, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt): only the end point comes from the publication, and the shape of the curve serves purely as visualisation — do not read the production on a particular day from it. For this substrate k = 0.393 d⁻¹ was assumed (median of rate constants k reported in the sources and/or fitted to the mean measured curves).

The statistics describe the spread of published results — a descriptive compilation, not a meta-analysis or a guarantee of plant yield.

Full methodology and correction policy

Results after pretreatment (2) — excluded from the mean

Source	BMP m³ CH₄/t VS	Pretreatment	Sample
Luste i Luostarinen (2011)	250	physical	slurry
Luste i Luostarinen (2011)	280	unspecified	slurry

Bibliography

All sources of the site: bibliography.