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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #210572
Title: Monitoring emissions from animal feeding operations

Author
item Trabue, Steven - Steve
item HONG, LI - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item BURNS, ROBERT - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item XIN, HONGWEI - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2007
Publication Date: 8/24/2007
Citation: Trabue, S.L., Hong, L., Burns, R., Xin, H. 2007. Monitoring emissions from animal feeding operations. Proceedings of 23rd Annual National Environmental Monitoring Conference, August 20-24, 2007, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Paper No. 298.

Interpretive Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air consent agreement with animal feeding operations (AFO) specifies the use of canister for determining concentration of various volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted from these facilities. Sorbent tube sampling may be a more effective technique in the sampling of VOCs from AFO due to its ability to capture both volatile and highly polar compounds. The technique is limited by the types of sorbent material used and ambient air matrix (temperature, relative humidity, and dust levels). In particular, relative humidity (RH) affects both field sampling and analysis of air samples. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect RH had on the recovery and analysis of various compounds emitted from AFO using different sorbent materials (Tenax, graphitized carbon, and carbon molecular sieves) and report major compounds detected from a poultry facility. A custom-designed sorbent tube containing graphitized carbon materials performed best with quantitative recovery of most compounds tested for all RHs and sampling volumes tested. Tenax sorbent tubes gave quantitative results for most compounds except acetic acid. Sorbent tubes with carbon molecular sieve (CMS) material performed poorly at both 50 and 80% RH due to excessive sorption of water. Major compounds detected at a poultry facility included volatile fatty acids, carbonyl or oxy containing compounds, and phenolic compounds, most of which would be difficult to measure using canister-based sampling techniques. Research results described in this report provide environmental, atmospheric, and regulatory scientists valuable information on the sampling and analysis of agricultrual VOCs from AFO.

Technical Abstract: The EPA air consent agreement with animal feeding operations (AFO) specifies the use of EPA TO-15 for the speciation of VOCs emitted from these facilities. Sorbent tube sampling may be a more effective technique in the speciation of VOCs from AFOs due to its ability to capture both volatile and highly polar compounds. The technique is limited by the types of sorbent material used and ambient air matrix (temperature, relative humidity and dust levels). In particular, relative humidity (RH) affects both field sampling and analysis of air samples. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect RH had on the recovery and analysis of various compounds emitted from AFO using different sorbent materials (Tenax, graphitized carbon, and carbon molecular sieves) and report major compounds detected from a poultry facility. Test atmospheres were generated at ambient temperatures (23 + 1.5 degrees C) and 25, 50, and 80% RH. A custom-designed sorbent tube containing graphitized carbon materials performed best with quantitative recovery of most compounds tested for all RHs and sampling volumes tested. Tenax sorbent tubes gave quantitative results for most compounds except acetic acid. Sorbent tubes with carbon molecular sieve (CMS) material performed poorly at both 50 and 80% RH due to excessive sorption of water. Major compounds detected at a poultry facility included volatile fatty acids, carbonyl or oxy containing compounds and phenolic compounds, most of which would be difficult to measure using canister-based sampling techniques.