Odor Control in Swine Houses by the Use of Natural Zeolites: First Approach to the Problem

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1993 | No Comments

In Italy, natural Zeolites are added to the pigs diet by the farmers in order to: improve the feed efficiency, reduce the incidence of intestinal diseases, and lower the emissions of odor and ammonia from the manure produced. Natural Zeolites are tektosilicates that are characterized by a high Cation Exchange Capacity (as high as 300 to 400 meq/100g) and some Zeolites are known for their selective absorption of ammonium ions. Two trails were carried out in order to evaluate the real capacity of Zeolites to lower odor and ammonia emissions in ambient air of livestock buildings. The first trial was done on 2 groups of 200 fattening pigs one control group (no Zeolite in the diet) and one treatment group (phillisite at 5%). The control and treatment group were kept in 2 different rooms in the same building that was naturally ventilated and where manure was temporarily stored under the slatted floor. The second trial was realized in laboratory with manure where Zeolites were directly added to the manure at 2 different concentrations (5 and 10% of concentrates in the ration). In the first trial, no significant differences were measured for the ammonia emissions and for the feed efficiency, the improvement could not be economically justified. For 2nd trial, only manure treated with Zeolites concentration of 10% resulted in a reduction of the ammonia emissions.

This experiment was realized with a important number of pigs which represent better the production conditions. The benefits from Zeolites addition to feed or fresh manure couldn’t be proved as the ammonia reduction was not significant and the improvement in the feed efficiency noticed on the group fed with the 5% Zeolite ration was not significant also.

Ammonia Emission Measurements in a Model System of a Pig House

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The experiments were done on a laboratory scale. Verifications need to be done to validate the results obtained directly in production buildings as urine passes differ from the simulation in the experiment.

Reduction of gaseous nitrogen emission from pig manure by increasing the level of bacterially fermentable substrates in the ration.

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The beneficial effects of bacterially fermentable substances added to the growing pigs have be proven with lower N excretion and no significant changes in the lean meat proportion and same or better health situation. The diet fed to the pigs contained the same level of protein and also the same energy. However no information is given on the cost associated with BFS.

Excretion of Nitrogen and Some Nimerals by Livestock

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A close balance between the supply of nutrient in the manure and the crop requirement will result in hardly any nutrients losses. Problems occur when this balance doesn’t exist and the possible relation between nutrient needs for the livestock production and the crop needs is not present at local or regional level. The nutrient retention in swine production is not very effective and varies according to the physiological stage. For piglet, 40% of the nitrogen (N) intake is retained, it is 39% for phosphorus (P) and 9% for potassium (K); for growing pig (25 to 106 kg), 33% of the nitrogen intake is retained, 33% of the P and 6% of the K; and finally for the breeding sow (producing 19,6 weaned piglets/year), 19% of the N intake is retained, 17% of the P and 3% of the K.

Dispersion of Odours From Ground Level Agricultural Sources

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Most dispersion models have originally been developped to describe odour dispersion pattern from industrial source pollutants. In agriculture, most of the odour sources are at or near ground level, there is generally no plume rise developping, the source may differ a lot from point-source and be of large areal extent, the emission source may be relatively close to the receptor zone, the odour emission rate is difficult to measure (not a single pollutant component), the emission rates can vary in time and space and finally the emissions can be of relatively low intensity. Adaptations have to be done to the model curently used to take into account these agricultural factors.

Factors Affecting Ammonia Emission from Housing for Weaned Piglets

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In this experiment, the temperature of the ambient air was kept fairly high (between 24 and 28 C) which may have caused more fouling particularly with higher animal weights.

Respiratory health status in swine producers using respiratory protective devices

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Animal Factors Affecting Protein Utilisation in the Pig

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The basic physiological processes involved are: digestion and absorption, maintenance of the integument, protein re-synthesis, gut maintenance, amino acid catabolism and protein synthesis. Based on the simulation, the results showed that the urine is the major route for N losses. Around 2/3 of total N excretion is eliminated in the urine.

Wirkung und Bewertung von Geruchen – Effects and Assessment of Odours – Determination of Annoyance Parameters by Questioning Repeated Brief Questioning of Neighbour Panellists

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A method of population survey is presented to evaluate the odour annoyance in a selected area as annoyance cannot be evaluated by physical chemistry methods. Selected local residents form a panel and are asked repeated questions at a given moment to evaluated their perception of odour. The annoyance caused by odour is quantify on a scale of 6 categories from 0 to 5 (0 is no odour, 1 is not annoying to extremely annoying which is 5) corresponding weighting factors are used for the analysis and the graphical representation of the odour annoyance . The survey can be done over a short period of time which represents a short-term investigation with a test question at least one time a day for 2 to 3 months. Long-term investigation is done on a period of 12 to 14 months with a test at least one a week. Investigation zones have to be determined within the investigation area which may be affected by an odour source and a neutral control zone outside the investigation area is also chosen to compare the results with an unaffected area. The survey can be used: to evaluate the annoyance distribution in time and space for the investigated area, to demonstrate the difference between the annoyance situation in the investigated area compare to the neutral control zone, to evaluate the efficiency of applied odour abatement measures, to better understand the effect of prevailing wind direction and odour-relevant sources. Survey procedures are given with examples of letters and questioner. This method gives more relevant information than complaints surveys because a selected group of persons is invited to participate as for complaints only certain individual will forward complaints to local authorities. However the results of such a survey cannot be used for a different neighborhood even if the conditions seem to be similar.

Very interesting and complete information is given on the way of doing odour annoyance survey. This tool is interesting because it can give a fairly good picture of the annoyance pattern in an area and rely directly on the population perception of the odour source annoyance. Special attention has to be given to the survey organization and follow up to make sure that the procedures are understood and respected through out the survey period

Experiments with a Feed Additive to Reduce Ammonia Emissions from Pig Fattening Housing – Preliminary Results

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Good literature survey on the use of mineral feed additives showing sometimes improvement in feed efficiency and growth however the results are often not significantly different (and in many cases no statistical analysis is presented) and the experiments were done on a small number of pigs.