Aerial Environment in Animal Housing. Concentration in and Emissions from Farm Buildings.

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This report had for objective to provide scientists and advanced advisers with information and basic facts about the following subjects:
– production and dispersion of dust (airborne particles) and gases inside livestock buildings;
– emissions of particles (pathogens excluded), gases and odour from livestock buildings to their surroundings;
– practical and useful measurement methods of measuring the contaminants;
– effect of the contaminants on humans and animals;
– methods to reduce indoor production, concentrations and emissions of contaminants.
This report does not present information about emissions and engineering aspects of storage and manure handling inside or outside the building. And this report doesn’t deal with animal comfort.

General information of the aerial environment in animal housing is well presented with the principal phenomena and the possible solutions available.

Inactivation of antibiotics and the dissemination of resistance genes

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Equipment for Application of Animal Slurry in Field Experiments.

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The manure spreading equipment presented as been design for field experiments. However, the flow rate system could be investigated for commercial application as the control is very accurate. The application is controlled continuously and the rates are predetermined in the range of 10 to 100 t/ha and the application rate (t/ha) is independent of the travel speed as a computer system makes the necessary adjustments to change the rotation speed of the pump.

Rapport synthese – Inventaire et etude comparative des technologies de desodorisation et autres methodes et pratiques d'attenuation des odeurs de lisier

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A comparative study on odor abatement techniques have been done to select the most promising avenues in manure deodorisation for Quebec conditions. The efficiency, the environmental, agronomical and economical impacts of those techniques have also been considered. A simulation model was constructed to include and process different parameters of the manure management chain. The analysis results show that for existing building, the use of biological feed additives, the use of roofs or covers for the manure storage facility and injection for manure disposal are the more advantageous measures. For new building, biocontrolled litter proved to be very promising. Regional manure treatment centers become interesting when the manure has to be applied on fields that are further than 24 km from the farm or storage facility.

This study is quite interesting and complete on the current techniques available and the economics associated with their uses.

Transport of pathogens through soils and acquifers.

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Between 1971 and 1980, the use of untreated groundwater was responsible for more than one-third of the waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. This statistic points to the potential for subsurface contamination by pathogenic microorganisms. The major sources of pathogens are waste water effluents, residual sludges from waste treatment, and septic tank effluents. The number of septic tanks in the United States has been estimated at 22 million units. These on-site treatment systems serve approximately one-third of the U.S. population. They are major contributors to the contamination of subsurface environments. The contaminants are household chemicals (nitrate, heavy metals, organic toxicants), pathogenic microorganisms in soils and aquifer material is primarily governed by their transport and persistence in these environments. The survival and transport of pathogens in soils and aquifers are controlled b four major factors: climate (e.g. temperature, rainfall), type of soil or aquifer material (e.g. texture, pH, water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity), properties of pore fluids (e.g. chemistry, saturation), and type of pathogen. In the following sections, we review the major factors controlling the persistence and transport of pathogens and discuss modeling efforts to assess pathogen fate in soil andsubsurface environments.

Modelling the Performance of a Non-steady State Continuous Aeration Plant for the Treatment of Pig Slurry.

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Modelling has been used to study and understand better the process occurring during manure aeration. The simulation showed that problems could be expected if the temperature in the digestor decreased under 10 C in cold winter conditions and the temperature reached 47 C were the microbial activity would be affected during hot summer.

Olfaktometrie – Bestimmung der hedonichen Geruchswirkung – Olfactometry – Determination of Hedonic Odour Tone

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To evaluate an highly odorant substance or source other parameters than the odour threshold have to be considered such as its effect for above threshold concentrations on the olfactory sensation and its hedonic odour tone. The Guideline presents a method for evaluating the hedonic odour tone of odorant air mixes or gases . The hedonic odour tone of an odour should not be confused with the odour quality (referring to fragrant, stale, pungent or such) and is, in the guideline, represented by a position on a scale from 4 which is an extremely pleasant odour to -4 representing an extremely unpleasant one with 0 being neither pleasant nor unpleasant. VDI 3881 and VDI 3882 should be used for odorant concentration and odour intensity determinations. The procedures are given to realize the hedonic odour tone measurements and the results evaluation and presentation. The hedonic odour tone has to be considered in odour abatement evaluation as reduction of the odorant emissions intensity may not always results in improvements of the hedonic odour tone. To evaluate a nuisance situation, frequency and duration of odorant presence in the ambient air have also to be considered.

This guideline gives interesting information and definitions of an important aspect of nuisance coming from odour which is the hedonic odour tone. Olfactometry methods are used to evaluate many parameters characterizing odours that are more oriented in quantity evaluation. These procedures can be applied to pleasant odour sources or substances in the same way than for unpleasant odour source. The hedonic odour tone evaluation gives information on the human emotional reaction to odour which is essential in odour evaluation and abatement.

Lung function in a five-year follow-up study of farmers

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Traitement du lisier de porc par aeration-sedimentation – Suivi de l'evolution physico-chimique en pilote.

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Experiments were done in order to verify the feasibility and performances of a continuous aeration and sedimentation process for swine manure. The tests were realized on a pilot scale setting with two reactors of 1 cubic meter where aeration was done. Three different aeration and retention time treatments were tested: 1 1/2 day with high aeration rate, 1 1/2 day with low aeration and 4 days with low aeration. During the experiment, the temperature in the reactors is maintained between 25 to 35 C. As it is a continuous process, every hour, some treated manure is put in the sedimentation bin for 48 hours if the retention time in the reactor is 4 days and 18 hours for the retention time of 1 1/2 days. The aeration treatments showed that the volatile fatty acids were importantly lower (reduction of 99,5%), the chemical oxygen demand was also reduced by more than 40% and the nitrogen was removed by 15 to 47% (the operation conditions of the reactor have to be well controlled in order to limit the losses by NH3 and N2O). At the end of the sedimentation stage, the sludge obtained represents 37% of the initial volume and contains the main part of the insoluble elements. The treatment deodorize the manure and the liquid part could be used for crop irrigation as it is still charged with nutrients.

No information is given on the level of deodorization. No information is given on the economics of such systems. Two products have to be disposed and evaluated for their nutrient content and two different types of equipment may be needed to handle the liquid part and to handle the sludge.

Evaluation environnementale, agronomique et economique de differentes methodes de gestion des engrais de ferme au champ a l'aide du logiciel FECES: rapport final

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New means to assess manure management methods are presented using a global balance approach that consider environmental , agronomic and economical aspects. An important literature review was realized to evaluate the nutrients behavior of manure from the moment the manure is applied to soil. Certain aspects are well documented and can be used for a assessment of manure and they are: nitrogen volatilization, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) run off, nitrogen availability during the first year and nutrients uptake by plants. However many other parameters needed to make the assessment are not documented or appropriate for Eastern Canadian conditions and they are: nitrogen denitrification, leaching (N, P, K) and N, P, K stocking and immobilization to soil particles. Considering those limits, it is difficult to elaborate a complete balance approach for nutrients in the farm manure from the first contact to soil at spreading through plant’s uptake. More research is needed to investigate those aspects of nutrients – soil interaction. As a result, the software, FECES, that was developed from the literature elements to help in nutrients (N,P, K) balance determination for specific cases, have to be used with caution. This software could be implemented as parameters are determined by research results. However the simulation helped pointing out that a vast majority of farmers put fertilizers in excess on their field: using mineral fertilizers and not really considering the nutrients contained in the manure they apply. Those excess outweighed the management practices they could use (ex: spring spreading rather than fall).

Better manure management practices have to be integrated in the whole nutrient balance of the farm considering the farm situation (crops, soils), the manure available and also the mineral fertilizers used. This report presenting an important literature review and software development is the result of a project founded by Quebec Environmental and Wildlife Ministry as part of special program of support of research and development in environment on better manure management practices.