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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #272301

Title: Inorganic carbon and emission of ammonia from manure

Author
item Hafner, Sasha
item MONTES, FELIPE - Pennsylvania State University
item Rotz, Clarence - Al
item Meisinger, John

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2011
Publication Date: 8/28/2011
Citation: Hafner, S.D., Montes, F., Rotz, C.A., Meisinger, J.J. 2011. Inorganic carbon and emission of ammonia from manure[abstract]. American Chemical Society Abstracts. Paper No. 24.

Interpretive Summary: An interpretive summary is not required.

Technical Abstract: Animal agriculture, and manure in particular, is a major source of ammonia emissions, and numerous models have been developed for predicting ammonia emission from manure. However, even the most comprehensive models are often inaccurate. Ammonia emission is complicated by volatilization of carbon dioxide, which raises manure pH through kinetically-limited reactions, and therefore affects ammonia speciation and emission rate. We developed a chemical speciation and transport model that includes equilibrium and kinetically-limited reactions for predicting manure pH and carbon dioxide and ammonia emission from manure. Model predictions and emission measurements confirm that carbon dioxide emission influences ammonia emission, and provide quantitative estimates of the effect of manure composition, temperature, and mass transfer coefficient on emission. The relationships identified in this work provide insight into the processes controlling ammonia emission, and can be incorporated into simpler models for predicting ammonia emission from manure.