Barn Ventilation Conversion

Posted in: Energy by admin on January 1, 1985 | No Comments

The article looks at a farmers decision to convert an existing barn to a more energy efficient naturally ventilated structure. The reasons for the conversion were high maintenance on the fan motors and equipment, worry free operation during hot weather-power failure conditions, and energy consumption of the 8 fan motors.

Solutions to Reduce Ammonis Levels in Swine Facilities

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Excessive ammonia levels within a operation can adversely impact pig performce through altering metalbolic reactions or pig health; as well creating a unfavourable working enivronment for its staff. Three options were examined in the reduction od ammonia levels: (1) dilute the ammonia through higher ventilation rates (2) remove the ammonia before it reaches the pigs (3) eliminate the cause of the ammonia. Ammonia levels were studied in a variety of building designs to assist the reader in experiencing methods of reducing ammonia in different systems.

Hot Water Heating

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Hot water heating (hydronic heating) is a popular and effective method of heating agricultural buildings. There have been great technological advances in hydronic heating controls and products since this bulletin was first done in 1984. This leaflet gives design and installation guidelines for both floor and space heating systems.

The Biological Stability of Anaerobically-treated Piggery Slurry during Storage.

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1984 | No Comments

Aeration treatment of manure that has a high total solids content (3,0 – 4,5%) has to be longer that for manure with a lower total solids content (< 1,5%) in order to stabilize the manure. If the aeration is not done during a period long enough, anaerobic activity can start during the storage period and result in odour emissions. In order to keep the manure in a stable stage during storage, secondary intermittent aeration may b necessary.

Monitoring Anaerobic Digesters on Farms

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The plants that were monitored had individual design and were constructed using different material. However they all had the following characteristics: continually fed, heated and mixed. Management is considered as an important element in order to achieve successful operation and biogas production. Odour offensiveness has been significantly reduced by the treatment. The conversion from methane produced to electricity has been found to range from 1,8 to 2,3 kWh/ cubic meter of methane. All digesters produced electricity with the biogas and the heat coming from the engine used to produce the electricity was used to maintain the digestor temperature. Improvement in the biogas storage has to be done in order to even out supply and demand.

Subsurface Drainage Water Quality from Land Application of Swine Lagoon Effluent

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The rates used for this experiment are very high and were selected with the idea to verify the long-term effect of manure disposal as opposed to valorization and optimization. In this experiment, the runoff represented less than 1% and the subsurface drainage 25% of the annual water input. The application rates of 325, 650 and 1300 kg N/ha – year represent 1 time, 2 and 4 times the recommended application rate for Coastal bermudagrass. Both the medium and the high rates resulted in nitrate concentration in the water higher than the recommended level of 10 mg/L. P accumulation in the soil resulted from the N application at N recommended rate. Considering N as the element to set the application rate, P recommended rate was exceeded by 3 times. P was fixed by the soil, however by the fifth year of the experiment, higher P concentrations were measured in the runoff. Even if many years are necessary before seeing P leaching, P should be considered to determine the application rates as well as N.

Nutritional Value of Germinated Barley

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A controlled germination procedure was developed to test for changes in the nutrient balance and quality of barley, and to produce a meal that would be of value as a supplement in a variety of human foods. Barley was soaked in 3 volumes of water for 6 hours. The seeds were sprouted at 22A

Respiratory Symptoms and Lung Function among Workers in Swine Confinement Buildings: A Cross-Sectional Epidemiological Study

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Intensive Pig Production

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Pig production is a highly competitive business which demands increasingly intensive methods and innovative thinking. Good environmental design and management is essential to combine profitability and high productivity with animal health and welfare. This is a textbook, reference book and handbook for students, pig farmers and farm building consultants which sets out the principles of environmental design and management for intensive pig production systems. The methods and data presented in the book will be applicable to pig production systems anywhere in the world.
The book explains the basic principles leading to the choice of housing and includes practical recommendations to show how future requirements should be planned. Of particu;lar interest in terms of energy efficiency is chapter 7, which deals with heating and ventilation.

Waste Mangement Unit Design and Performance Data

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Design and management of livestock production facilities have a major impact on the intensity and quality of odor released. With mounting pressures for a clean environment, desire for freedom from imposition of neighbours’ influence, and a trend to confinement livestock production, odor control technology has become an increasingly important need. This need is reflected by the frequency of odor-based complaints to air pollution control agencies and individual producers, with extreme cases leading to law suits and court action.

Livestock production odors, like other nontoxic odor emissions, are generally regarded as nuisance pollutants. These odors are not regulated by federal action under the Clean Air Act. However, they have become the subject of an increasing number of state and local regulations and ordinances. Such laws may specifically control odors in several ways:

1. By definition of acceptable intensity limitations
2. Durations and frequencies constituting an nuisance at property line
3. By restricting size, design, or location of livestock production enterprises

The latter aproach is generally part of an overall land use plan and may not be recognized as a specific odor regulation.