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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311894
Title: Development of treatment modules for capturing ammonia emissions from poultry manures and recovering the nitrogen

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item BASCONES, M. SANCHEZ - Collaborator
item Millner, Patricia
item Szogi, Ariel
item White, Kate
item TIMMONS, J - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item Brigman Jr, Percy
item BUABENG, F - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item HASHEM, F - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2015
Publication Date: 5/5/2015
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Bascones, M., Millner, P.D., Szogi, A.A., White, K.L., Timmons, J., Brigman Jr, P.W., Buabeng, F., Hashem, F.M. 2015. Development of treatment modules for capturing ammonia emissions from poultry manures and recovering the nitrogen. In: Proceedings of IV SIGERA (IV Symposium on Agricultural and Agrindustrial Waster Management) Conference, May 5-7, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The recovery of nitrogen (N) from wastes will be important in agriculture because of the high cost of commercial N fertilizers and the environmental damage of the release of reactive N. We are developing new systems and methods that use gas-permeable membranes to recover significant amounts of ammonia when operated inside barns to remove the ammonia from the air. The new process includes the passage of gaseous ammonia through a gas-permeable membrane and subsequent concentration in a stripping solution. Experiments were carried out in Maryland using a pilot prototype system with turkey litter inside controlled chambers. For stripping solutions, we tested both diluted sulfuric acid and water. They were contained in concentrator tanks and continuously recirculated through the membrane-containing manifolds. The amount of nitrogen recovered was higher using water as the stripping solution. Further analyses showed that the ammonia was recovered as ammonium bicarbonate, indicating that the membrane system was permeable to both gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide. This finding may lead to more economical recovery systems for ammonia in the future. The presentation will also discuss design and current testing of two pilot recovery systems using gas-permeable membranes installed in the poultry facility at University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The installed modules will demonstrate the ammonia recovery and the potential poultry production benefits from cleaner air.