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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Nutrition, Growth and Physiology » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306212
Title: Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from feedlot pen surface materials as affected by within pen location, moisture, and temperature

Author
item Woodbury, Bryan
item Gilley, John
item PARKER, DAVID - West Texas A & M University
item MARX, DAVID - University Of Nebraska
item Eigenberg, Roger

Submitted to: Biosystems Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/23/2015
Publication Date: 3/25/2015
Citation: Woodbury, B.L., Gilley, J.E., Parker, D.B., Marx, D.B., Eigenberg, R.A. 2015. VOC emissions from beef feedlot pen surfaces as affected by within-pen location, moisture, and temperature. Biosystems Engineering. 134:31-41.

Interpretive Summary: Animal diets can modify the types and amounts of odors coming from manure. Understanding how environmental conditions impact the types and amounts of odors coming from manure will provide information to establish management practices that minimize odor emissions. This study looked at how different locations within the pens, and the amount of soil moisture and temperature alter odor types and amounts. As expected, odor emissions increased with increasing temperatures. Compounds containing sulfur accounted for most of the odors coming from manure originating from animal diets containing ethanol by-products. This was even more prominent when there was water present. The location within the pen that emitted the most emissions was near the base of the central mound. It is speculated that the wetting and drying cycles typical of that area of the pen is ideal for producing odors that are considered more offensive.

Technical Abstract: A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the effects of pen location, moisture, and temperature on emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from surface materials obtained from feedlot pens where beef cattle were fed a diet containing 30% wet distillers grain plus solubles. Surface materials were collected from the bunk, drainage, and mound areas within three feedlot pens. The surface materials were mixed with water to represent dry, wet, or saturated conditions and then incubated in an environmental chamber at temperatures of 5, 15, 25 and 35°C. A wind tunnel and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer were used to quantify emissions of eight volatile fatty acids (VFA), five aromatics, and two sulfur-containing compounds. Pen location significantly (P < 0.05) affected measurements of 10 of the VOC with the largest values occurring for surface materials collected from the mound area. The largest VFA and aromatic emissions resulted for the dry moisture condition while the wet and saturated conditions produced the largest sulfide emissions. Temperature affected emission of each VOC except indole, with measured values generally increasing as temperature increased. The odor activity value (OAV), which was the ratio of the measured concentration of a single compound normalized to the odor threshold for that compound, was calculated for each emission source. Four VFA contributed 7.46% of the total OAV but only one aromatic, 4-methylphenol, was a major contributor to the total OAV at 2.5%. In comparison, the two sulfide compounds, dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide, contributed 87.3% of the total OAV. This research shows that VOC emissions from feedlot surfaces may be significantly affected by pen location, moisture condition, and temperature.