Environmental Effects of Ammonia

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1991 | No Comments

Direct effect of ammonia emission can be remarked only in cold climate like in the northern part of Scandinavia or in cold winters. Damages can be remarked on the vegetation under those conditions and red or reddish brown colouring can be seen on coniferous trees. In mild climate the trees generally recover in the summertime. The indirect effects of ammonia are more widespread and serious and result on ammonium deposition on ecosystems. Acidification and nitrogen enrichment of the soil can result from nitrogen deposition on weakly buffered ecosystems. This phenomena can result in the disappearance of many plant species. Competition between slow growing and fast growing plants will be seen and changes can be observed for example from a heath- and peatlands into grasslands.
Ammonia emission should be considered seriously particularly where livestock density is high and fragile ecosystems are close by. The acidification effects have already caused problems in some areas in The Netherlands and Germany.

Odorous Compounds from Teated Pig Manure

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This experiment has been verifying the evolution of different odorous compounds under the treatments. Conclusion is made on odour changes however no direct measures on the odour has been done. Conclusion on the odour cannot be made, only on the variation of certain compounds.

The role of Ammonia as an Atmospheric Pollutant

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Ammonia plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry and acid deposition. The pollution problem caused by ammonia has to be considered on an international basis as it is being transported over long distances. The importance of that acid deposition was not widely appreciated few years ago. More intensive livestock production and fertilizers uses have increased the ammonia emissions in Europe which come dominantly from agricultural activities. The fate of ammonia in the atmosphere is complicated. Modeling have been used to study the transport of ammonia and its interaction with other acidic compounds (H, Cl, HNO3 AND H2SO4).

Biologische Abgas-/Abluftreinigung – Biofilter. Biological Waste Gas/Waste Air Purification – Biofilters.

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This guideline provides information about cleaning waste gas/waste air (WGA) to reduce or eliminate certain pollutants and odours by biological treatment in biofilters. Biofiltration has been used successfully to purify emissions from many different type of industries or productions including livestock production and manure treatment. Many odorant components (organic compounds such as oxygen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, nitrogen-containing compounds and inorganic compounds such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia) are degraded in an aerobic process by the activity of the micro-organisms settled on solid carrier substances. Compost, fibrous peat, heather, mixes of these of other organic substances and also lava or porous clay can be used and arranged in layer so the WGA can flow through and be sorbed onto the carrier substances surfaces where the micro-organisms can decomposed its components. To operate properly optimum conditions must be controlled in the biofilter such as WGA concentration and type, type, number and activity of the micro-organisms in the biofilter, temperature, moisture content of the WGA and pH-value. Proper design and construction should be done and particular attention should be given in dimensioning the biofilter and start up and maintenance procedures. The efficiency of the biofilter will be evaluated by the reduction of specific pollutant or of the odour emission using different techniques (gas chromatographic and spectrometric analysis) for the pollutants and olfactometry for the improvement in the odour (VDI 3881 and 3882). The biofilter supplier has to guarantee the assured properties for define operating conditions.

Biofilters are effective for WGA reduction. However this technology, even if not very complicated, involves quite a bit of following up to maintain the proper conditions for micro-organisms activity and WGA reduction. The investment and operation costs of biofilters have also to be evaluated and weighted in the possible solutions for WGA reduction. Important operation cost are associated with the use of biofilters for treatment of waste air from ventilated livestock building as important volume of air has to be blown through the filter.

Quinoline resistance in campylobacter isolated from man and poultry following the introduction of fluoroquinolones in veterinary medicine.

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A Review of the Control of Odour Nuisance from Livestock Buildings: Part 1, Influence of the Techniques for Managing Waste within the Building.

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This article makes a review of published information on the impact of waste management practices odour production and emission. After analysis of this information, recommandations are difficult to make regarding specific practices because of the shortage of objective odour measurements but recommandations on research can be done. Different livestock management factors have been analysed and reported such as waste removal, waste decomposition, floor design in the building, treatments done in the building to waste and bedding materials use but interactions between these factors confound the analysis. However the evidence points to frequent waste removal that would prevent anaerobic conditions that occur in the building. This would lead to odour control as some odourous compounds increase concentrations over 24h period of anaerobic storage conditions. The reduction of moisture content of the waste could apparently limit the anaerobic conditions development. This could explain why odour reduction has been linked to bedding material use. However adequate odour measurement data are needed to conclude on the waste management practices and the use of different bedding materials for odour reduction. Even if ammonia concentration in air and odour strenght doesn’t show good correlation (not proportional), measures that reduce ammonia concentration in building would also reduce odour and vice versa.

As reported by the authors, the published information is difficult to analyzed because the procedures to obtain the results are not standardised and the parameters measured are not always the same as odour strenght, odourus compounds concentrations, particular chemical compounds are used.

Upward vs. downward ventilation air flow in a swine house.

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1990 | No Comments

Several ventilation system designs are in common use, and very little is known about their relative performance in achieving an acceptable livestock building air quality. A ventilation system may be characterized quantitatively from the efficiency of the air exchange process and the effectiveness of the contaminant removal process. The theoretical framework is summarized and applied in an intervention study of upward vs. downward air flow in a pig house. The contaminants considered were NH3, CO2, dust, and excessive heat. It was concluded that the air exchange efficiency of upward air flow was superior to downward air flow. For some contaminants (CO2, excessive heat, dust) the ventilation effectiveness of upward air flow was superior to downward air flow.

Herbage Production and Nitrogen Recovery from Slury Injection and Fertilizer Nitrogen Application

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The yield obtained with mid-season manure injection can be compared to the one obtained using fertilizer-N and the variability in the yields is also comparable. More variable results are obtained with broadcast spreading for the same application rates.

Electrostatic precipitation dust removal system for swine housing.

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An electrostatic precipitation dust removal method for livestock housing was evaluated. Prototype testing was conducted in 2 animal rooms with similar ventilation, temperature control and management. Particle count and mass samples were collected. A 57-66% reduction of all dust particles was achieved.

Effect of Pelleting Mixed Feeds on Phytase Activity and the Apparent Absorbability of Phosphorus and Calcium in Pigs

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The conditions during pelleting are determinant for diets that contain phytase. Temperature that reaches 80 C or more during the pelleting process of the diet results in a reduction of the digestibility of the P. Results showed that diets that contained phytase after steam pelleting presented the same P digestibility than diet that was phytase-inactivated. Not only the digestibility of P was decreased by pelleting but also the calcium digestibility was also lowered. Consequently, pelleting at high temperature has to be avoided.