Research

Description

The research group works on general research topics related to the AGR/10 sector of Rural Buildings and Agroforestry Territory, and AGR/09 of Agricultural Mechanics, and in particular on the following topics: - Environmental impact of livestock farms: emissions from livestock farm activities (livestock farm effluents, harmful and polluting gases, bad odours); plants for the production of biogas from livestock farm effluents and from biomass of agricultural and plant origin and by-products; effluents and digestates treatment plants and systems for the reduction of environmental impact (liquid/solid separation, membrane filtration, drying, vacuum evaporation, innovative composting plants also for the treatment of liquid effluents, nitro/denitrification systems); agronomic use of effluents and digestates. - Mechanization and automation of livestock farms: stable cleaning systems, automatic feed distribution systems in cattle breeding, automatic ventilation and cooling control systems. - Animal welfare in intensive animal farming: characterization and monitoring of the breeding microclimate and indoor air quality (concentration and emission of harmful gases, total and breathable dust); behavioural analysis in dairy cattle farms for the evaluation of the effect of automated feeding and milking systems; stable air conditioning systems (forced ventilation, cooling and heating systems).

Research subjects

Automatic (robotic) systems for intensive animal farms (milking, feeding, manure management)
Anaerobic digestion of animal manure, agricultural waste and by-products
Digestate and animal waste treatment
Technical systems for heat stress reduction in animal farms
Environmental sustainability and energy savings of intensive fish farming