Alan L. Sutton

CHARACTERISTICS AND EMISSION RATES OF ODOR FROM COMMERCIAL SWINE NURSERIES

Odor emission rates and characteristics were evaluated at two commercial swine nurseries in Indiana during the months of March, April, and May. The nurseries, housing 94 to 250 pigs, were mechanically ventilated with long–term manure storage pits under wire floors. Incoming ventilation air at one of the nurseries was tempered in a heated hallway. An eight–member odor panel evaluated odor concentration with a dynamic olfactometer and odor intensity and hedonic tone at full strength. The odor concentration of incoming ventilation air ranged from 7 to 85 odor units per cubic meter (OU m–3) and averaged 18 OU m–3. It ranged from 94 to 635 OU m–3 and averaged 199 OU m–3 in the ventilation exhaust air. The mean odor emission rates of the two nurseries were 18.3 and 62.5 OU s–1 AU–1 (1.1 and 2.7 OU s–1 m–2), respectively. The overall mean odor emission rate was 34 OU s–1 AU–1 (1.8 OU s–1 m–2). The measured emission rates are expected to be lower than those that follow stringent panel sensitivity requirements not currently required by olfactometry standards in the U.S.

EFFECT OF A MANURE ADDITIVE ON AMMONIA EMISSION FROM SWINE FINISHING BUILDINGS

The effect of a commercial manure additive (Alliance®) on ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions was evaluated in commercial 1000-head grow-finish swine buildings over a six-month period. The test was conducted in two treated and two control buildings at a modern swine-finishing site consisting of nine identical buildings. Automatic spray application systems in the treated buildings intermittently sprayed the additive onto the surfaces of the below-floor manure storages. Ammonia concentrations were measured with a chemiluminescence analyzer at three location groups in each building over 7 or 12 min periods every 1.0 to 1.5 h. Pit fan airflow rates were measured continuously with impeller anemometers. Wall fan airflow rates were calculated from fan pressure/airflow curves and measured static differential pressure between indoor and outdoor air. Nearly 7,000 data subsets from 332 building-days of testing were obtained for comparing NH 3 emission rates between control and treated buildings. The mean NH 3 emission rate per AU (animal unit or 500 kg live weight) from the treated buildings (96.4 g/day·AU) was 24% (P < 0.05) lower than the control buildings. The volume of additive solution was sufficient to dilute the fresh manure by 20%, but the effect of dilution only on NH 3 emission was not measured.

Effect of swine manure dilution on ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide releases.

Animal manure is a significant source of environmental pollution and manure dilution in barn cleaning and slurry storage is a common practice in animal agriculture. The effect of swine manure dilution on releases of four pollutant gases was studied in a 30-day experiment using eight manure reactors divided into two groups. One group was treated with swine manure of 6.71% dry matter and another with manure diluted with water to 3.73% dry matter. Ammonia release from the diluted manure was 3.32 mg min(-1)m(-2) and was 71.0% of the 4.67 mg min(-1)m(-2) from the undiluted manure (P<0.01). Because the ammonia release reduction ratio was lower than the manure dilution ratio, dilution could increase the total ammonia emissions from swine manure, especially in lagoons with large liquid surface areas. Carbon dioxide release of 87.3 mg min(-1)m(-2) from the diluted manure was 56.4% of the 154.8 mg min(-1)m(-2) from the undiluted manure (P<0.01). Manure dry matter was an important factor for carbon dioxide release from manure. No differences were observed between the treatments (P>0.05) for both hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide releases. Therefore, dilution could also significantly increase the total releases of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide to the environment because dilution adds to the total manure volume and usually also increases the total gas release surface area.

Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Application from Swine Manure on Winter Wheat Growth and Nutrient Utilization

Two trials were conducted to determine the effect of swine manure application on wheat growth and nutrient uptake. Manure was added to soil on a nitrogen (N) basis at 325 kg plant-available nitrogen (PAN) ha−1 (experiment 1) and on a phosphorus (P) basis at 50 kg P ha−1, while maintaining a rate of 325 kg PAN ha−1 through ammonium sulfate addition (experiment 2). Manure treatments increased overall wheat growth by 29% (P < 0.005) compared to the negative control (NC) and increased plant tissue N mass 48% (P < 0.001) and P mass 61% (P < 0.002) (experiment 1). Fertilizer control tended to increase (P < 0.10) wheat growth and increased total vegetative tissue N mass by 23% (P < 0.006) and potassium mass by 20% (P < 0.002) compared to manure treatments. Manure treatments increased wheat growth by 23% (P < 0.03) compared to the NC at the first harvest (experiment 2).

Effect of Arsanilic Acid Level in Swine Diets and Waste Loading Rate on Model Anaerobic Lagoon Performance

ABSTRACT A38-week randomized complete block design experiment was conducted to study the effects of three arsanilic acid levels in swine diets and two waste loading rates on the performance and nutrient composition of model anaerobic lagoons. Diets with 0, 90 or 180 g arsanilic acid per ton were fed to growing-finishing swine with total daily fresh waste collections. Model lagoons were loaded daily at the high rate of 0.102 kg volatile solids/m3 (0.0064 lb/ft3) or low rate of 0.051 kg volatile solids/m3 (0.0032 lb/ft3). All measured parameters (total N, ammonium-N, P, K, As, dry matter, volatile solids) increased in the lagoon with increasing time after initial startup, and the high rate increased concentrations of the lagoon parameters more rapidly than the low loading rate. It appeared that the lagoons had reached a steady state condition as evidenced by a gradual leveling of nutrients by the end of the experiment. Presence of arsanilic acid in the swine diets increased Kjeldahl nitro-gen, ammonium nitrogen and ele-mental arsenic concentrations in lagoon effluent. However, there were no measurable adverse effects of dietary arsenic on lagoon performance. Results of this study showed that waste loading rate and time after initial startup have a greater effect on lagoon nutrient composition than does the amount of arsanilic acid in the swine diet. The lower loading rate was more nearly optimal for biodegradation of the waste.

Effects of avilamycin in swine and poultry wastes on methane production in anaerobic digesters

Abstract Broilers in finishing batteries and barrows in individual metabolism crates were used to produce manure for an anaerobic digester study to determine if avilamycin in the diet affected anaerobic digestion of the manure. A corn-soy based diet, with 80 mg/kg avilamycin, was compared to the control diet fed to swine and a corn-soy based diet, with 20 mg/kg avilamycin, was compared to the control diet fed to poultry. Manure loading rates tested ranged from 3·5 to 52·5 kg VS/m 3 for poultry manure and 3·0 to 45·0kg VS/m 3 for swine manure during 5-day batch digester trials. Manure loading rates for the large seed digesters were 3–4 kg VS/m 3 at a 15-day retention time. Based on four batch digester trials and the monitoring of 20-liter mesophilic digesters for a 19-week period, the presence of avilamycin in swine diets (80 mg/kg) and in poultry diets (20 mg/kg) did not have any adverse effect on total gas production, methane production, valatile solids (VS) reduction and gas production efficiency of anaerobic digesters. Using typical VS loading rates (3–4 kg VS/m 3 ) for mesophilic anaerobic digesters with manure from swine or broilers fed recommended levels of avilamycin should allow for efficient digester operation.