Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Corn Silage

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from corn silage were observed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and laser spectroscopy. In the first experiment, corn silage was produced using laboratory bucket silos. Air samples were collected from the bucket silos during the first week of ensiling and analyzed using a low-resolution Bruker FTIR spectrometer coupled with a long optical path length White Cell. The CO concentration in the bucket silo gas, derived from the FTIR spectra using the LINEFIT program, was as high as 48.0 ppm. In the second experiment, air samples were collected through a flux chamber from an Ag-Bag silage pile on a commercial dairy that was opened several months after ensiling. The Ag-Bag air samples were analyzed using a high-resolution Bruker FTIR spectrometer, and CO concentrations were retrieved to be 6.83 ppm, corresponding to an area emission rate of 33.7 mg/(hour ·m2). An LGR N2O/CO gas analyzer based on infrared laser spectroscopy was also used to measure the CO concentrations from the same flux chamber. Elevated CO concentrations were observed from these silage sources. The present study revealed that CO was emitted by corn silage during different phases of ensiling. Annual CO emissions from the corn silage were estimated to be much lower than those from the well-known emission categories in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and California, but comparable to those from food and agricultural sources in the SJV. It is also confirmed that FTIR spectroscopy is a viable method for measuring CO concentrations in complex gas mixtures, such as silage gas.