Agricultural Sciences, 2018, 9, 692-702 http://www.scirp.org/journal/as ISSN Online: 2156-8561 ISSN Print: 2156-8553 Flat Belt Separation System under Slat in Fattening Pig Housing: Effect of Belt Slope Angle Francisco Alonso * , Aranzazu Mateos, Jesús Vázquez, Miguel Angel Garcimartín, Elvira Sánchez, Ismael Ovejero Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica Alimentaria y de Biosistemas, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain Abstract In this study, the separation and drying efficiency of the excreta, separated into solid and liquid fraction by a flat conveyor belt under a partial slatted floor in a facility for fattening pigs, was determined. Two transverse slope an- gles (4˚ and 6˚) for the flat belts were used, in a trial with pigs from 20.61 to 117.83 kg of live weight (LW), and the sample size was 7 pigs per pen, 42 pigs per room. The flat belt was more efficient with 6˚ than with 4˚ slope angle (32.65% vs. 29.91% dry matter content of solid fraction during the whole fat- tening period, respectively; P < 0.0001). The separation and drying efficiency of the excreta, defined as the ratio of dry matter content of the solid fraction to dry matter content of fresh faeces, were significantly higher for the angle of 6˚ than for the 4˚ (1.4137 vs. 1.3030, during the whole fattening period; P < 0.0001). With a slope angle of 6˚, this efficiency was not improved in finishing period −83.40 to 117.83 kg LW (two extractions per day) with regard to the growth period −20.61 to 83.40 kg LW (one extraction per day). Meanwhile, with 4˚ it did improved. The ventilation system underneath slat seems to play a key role in the obtained results. Keywords Flat Belt, Manure, Separation and Drying Efficiency, Separation System, Swine 1. Introduction Traditionally, the pig wastes are collected in pits under the slatted floor in which are stored. An improvement to this method was the replacement of the pit by How to cite this paper: Alonso, F., Mateos, A., Vázquez, J., Garcimartín, M.A., Sánchez, E. and Ovejero, I. (2018) Flat Belt Separation System under Slat in Fattening Pig Housing: Effect of Belt Slope Angle. Agricultural Sciences, 9, 692-702. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2018.96048 Received: April 20, 2018 Accepted: June 22, 2018 Published: June 25, 2018 Copyright © 2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access DOI: 10.4236/as.2018.96048 Jun. 25, 2018 692 Agricultural Sciences