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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #176522
Title: DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF AN INEXPENSIVE CHAMBER FOR ANALYSIS OF VOC'S

Author
item Woodbury, Bryan
item Miller, Daniel
item Eigenberg, Roger
item Nienaber, John

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/21/2004
Publication Date: 1/5/2005
Citation: Woodbury, B.L., Miller, D.N., Eigenberg, R.A., Nienaber, J.A. 2005. Development and application of an inexpensive chamber for analysis of voc's. In: Symposium State of the Science, Animal Manure and Waste Management. January 5-7, 2005. San Antonio, Texas. 2005 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary: Inexpensive equipment is needed to study odor generation. Before odors can be managed, it is necessary to understand how odors are formed. This paper describes a measurement tool that can be used in both the laboratory and the field. The equipment controls the airspace above the odor source so that samples can be easily collected. Tests showed that the equipment performed accurately. The equipment will be used in future studies on odor management research.

Technical Abstract: Understanding the interaction of compounds emitted from livestock waste is an essential step in developing management practices designed to minimize negative environmental consequences. However, the protocol and equipment necessary to investigate these interactions at the laboratory or field-scale do not exist or are expensive. Therefore an inexpensive headspace sampling apparatus was developed to compare treatment effects on VOC emissions from cattle manure. The hemispherical stainless steel chamber was constructed with an internal gas mixing fan. A port was attached to the top of the hemisphere that could accommodate either solid phase extraction (SPE) or solid phase microextraction (SPME) gas samplers. The chamber was tested to evaluate flow characteristics, and was found to perform very similar to a continuously flow stirred reactor. As a result, concentrations measured at the sampling port were indicative of the concentrations anywhere in the headspace. Also, the apparatus was found to be stable over a wide range of flow rates, and linear with respect to surface area of manure.