Odor and odorous chemical emissions from animal buildings: Part 3. Chemical emissions

Authors: CAI, LINGSHUANG - Iowa State University; KOZIEL, JACEK - Iowa State University; ZHANG, SHICHENG - Iowa State University; HEBER, AL - Purdue University; CORTUS, ERIN - Purdue University; Parker, David; HOFF, STEVE - Iowa State University; SUN, GANG - Iowa State University; HEATHCOTE, KATIE - Iowa State University; JACOBSON, LARRY - University Of Minnesota; AKDENIZ, NESLIHAN - University Of Minnesota; HETCHLER, BRIAN - University Of Minnesota; BEREZNICKE, SARAH - Purdue University; CARAWAY, EDWARD - West Texas A & M University; LIM, TENG - Purdue University

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/23/2015
Publication Date: 11/18/2015
Citation: Cai, L., Koziel, J.A., Zhang, S., Heber, A.J., Cortus, E.L., Parker, D.B., Hoff, S.J., Sun, G., Heathcote, K.Y., Jacobson, L.D., Akdeniz, N., Hetchler, B.P., Bereznicke, S.D., Caraway, E.A., Lim, T.T. 2015. Odor and odorous chemical emissions from animal buildings: Part 3. Chemical emissions. Transactions of the ASABE. 58(5):1333-1347. doi 10.13031/trans.58.11199.

Interpretive Summary: In this supplemental project to the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS), scientists from Iowa State University, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, West Texas A&M University, and ARS (Clay Center, Nebraska) measured odor and chemical emissions from two dairy facilities and two swine facilities over a 2-year period. The project focused on comprehensive measurements of odor and chemical emissions from two dairy facilities and two swine facilities. Odorous gas samples were collected every two weeks for a 17 month period from 2007 to 2009. The concentrations of 20 odorous volatile organic compounds (VOC) were quantified using gas chromatography. The sums of the odorous VOC concentrations averaged over the entire sampling period were 276 and 97 micrograms per cubic meter for the two dairy sites, 1413 micrograms per cubic meter for the swine finisher site, and 394 micrograms per cubic meter for the swine sow site. Total VOC emission rates were 290 and 36 milligrams per hour per animal unit for the two dairy sites, 743 milligrams per hour per animal unit for the swine finisher site, and 34 milligrams per hour per animal unit for the swine sow facility. Emission rates were higher in summer and spring than in winter. This emissions data could assist in the development and evaluation of odor mitigation technologies for solving livestock odor nuisance problems.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to measure the long-term odor emissions and corresponding concentrations and emissions of 20 odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study was an add-on study to the National Air Emission Monitoring Study (NAEMS). Odor and odorous gas measurements at four NAEMS sites (dairy barns in Wisconsin-WI5B and Indiana-IN5B, swine finisher barn in Indiana-IN3B, and swine gestation & farrowing barns in Iowa-IA4B) were conducted from November 2007 to May 2009. The odorous gas samples were collected every two weeks using sorbent tubes (samples were collected twice each season of the year, with the exception of spring 2009 when samples were collected three times) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O). In this paper, we summarize measured gas concentrations and emissions of 20 target VOCs from each of four sites. The average total odorous VOC concentrations for the entire sampling period were 276, 96.9, 1413 and 394 ug/m3 for WI5B, IN5B, IN3B and IA4B, respectively. For swine sites, the highest seasonal average total odorous VOCs concentrations for each barn were observed during spring (1890 ug/m3 for IN3B and 458 ug/m3 for IA4B, respectively. For dairy sites, the highest seasonal average total odorous VOC concentration was observed in winter at WI5B (446 ug/m3), and in summer at IN5B (129 ug/m3). The average total emission rates for 20 odorous VOCs were 290 mg/h/AU (WI5B), 36.0 mg/h/AU (IN5B), 743 mg/h/AU (IN3B), 33.9 mg/h/AU (IA4B swine gestation barns) and 91.7 mg/h/AU (IA4B swine farrowing room). The average seasonal total odorous VOC emission rates were highest during summer at WI5B (805 mg/h/AU), IN5B (121 mg/h/AU) and IN3B (1250 mg/h/AU), and during spring at IA4B (95.8 mg/h/AU). The emissions of specific VOCs varied between seasons, sites, and species. To date, this is the most comprehensive VOC measurement survey of odorous compound emission rates from commercial livestock buildings.