Reliable low-cost devices for monitoring ammonia concentrations and emissions in naturally ventilated dairy barns

Wang, Xiang; Ndegwa, Pius M.; Joo, Hung-Soo; Neerackal, George M.; Harrison, J.A.; Stöckle, Claudio O.; Li, Heping

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.10.031

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Gas distribution of NH 3 , CH 4 , and CO 2 was uneven inside the barn where the concentration level decreased from inside to outside ( Figure 3 ), similarly to what was observed by Wang et al [ 5 ]. In open structures the effect of boundary conditions produced significantly differences between gas concentrations at central SLs and perimeter or corner SLs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

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Assessing Influence Factors on Daily Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from an Open-Sided Cubicle Barn in Hot Mediterranean Climate

D’Urso

Arcidiacono

Valenti

et al. 2021

Animals

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Measurement of gas concentrations constitutes basic knowledge for the computation of emissions from livestock buildings. Although it is well known that hot climate conditions increase gas emissions, in the literature the relation between gas concentrations from open barns and animal-related parameters has not been investigated yet. This study aimed at filling this gap by evaluating daily gas concentrations within an open-sided barn in hot Mediterranean climate. The influence of microclimatic parameters (MC) and cow behavior and barn management (CBBM) were evaluated for ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Results showed that both MC and CBBM affected concentrations of NH3 (p < 0.02), CH4 (p < 0.001), and CO2 (p < 0.001). Higher values of NH3 concentration were detected during the cleaning of the floor by a tractor with scraper, whereas the lowest NH3 concentrations were recorded during animal lying behavior. Measured values of CO2 and CH4 were highly correlated (C = 0.87–0.89) due to the same sources of production (i.e., digestion and respiration). The different management of the cooling systems during the two observation periods reduced significantly CH4 concentrations in the barn when the cooling system in the feeding area was switched off. Based on methodological choices due to the specific barn typology, parameters related to animals can provide information on the variation of gas concentrations in the barn environment in hot climate conditions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Another atmospheric pollutant, though it is not considered a greenhouse gas (GHG), is ammonia (NH 3 ), which is emitted during manure management and produces environmental impact, such us eutrophication, soil acidification, and nutrient-N enrichment of ecosystems [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Influence Factors on Daily Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from an Open-Sided Cubicle Barn in Hot Mediterranean Climate

D’Urso

Arcidiacono

Valenti

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…According to Wang et al [14], the available technologies for measuring gas concentrations can be subdivided into three categories (a) rapidly responding sensors providing concentrations over time (e.g., electrochemical cells, chemiluminescence, fluorescence, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and long path optical instruments), (b) cumulative-concentration devices which carry out only time-averaged values (e.g., denuders, passive samplers, and adsorption bottles), and (c) instantaneous-devices which give snap-shot measurements. The operating principles, advantages, limitations and cost of these technologies were classified in a study by Hassouna et al [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy is based on the analyses of acoustic waves produced from gases that are exposed to radiation [23][24]. Among the most commonly used devices, the photoacoustic infrared spectroscope (INNOVA, Lumasense Technology, Denmark) is a widespread technology for continuous measurement of gas concentrations, but the cost of the instrumentation and routine maintenance is too high [14]. In detail, the purchase price of this kind of equipment and costs of routine maintenance are relatively high and, thus, these devices are not suitable for environmental control carried out by farmers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of a Low-cost Portable Device for the Gas Concentration Monitoring in Livestock Housing

D’Urso¹,

Arcidiacono²,

Cascone³

2022

Preprint

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The increasing regulatory pressure to monitor and reduce GHG emissions and air pollutants requires cost-effective methods for their surveillance. The most common technique used for scientific investigations on gas concentration monitoring in barns are accurate but expensive and with a complex maintenance. This research study analysed the potential use of a low-cost portable measurement devices for the measurement of ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in an open dairy barn. A comparison between gas concentrations acquired at different heights from the floor by using portable devices and those acquired by a photoacoustic infrared multigas spectroscope (i.e., reference measurement) in the same sampling locations was carried out to determine the precision of the low-cost portable devices. The performance of low-cost portable devices was statistically analysed by the application of the one-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results showed a significant difference between gas concentration values at various heights from the floor for both NH3 and CO2. The correlations between concentrations acquired by the low-cost portable device and the INNOVA were statistically significant (r=0.83; P&lt;0.001) for gas concentrations monitored at 0.4 m from the floor. Compared with the reference measurement device, the low-cost devices were effective in the monitoring of NH3 concentrations at 0.40 m from the floor though it underestimated them in the barn at increasing of the height from the floor, whereas the device was not adequate for CO2 concentrations. In detail, the relative measurement error of the low-cost devices compared to INNOVA was reduced close to the floor during NH3 concentration measurements. Within these limitations, this device could be useful for monitoring NH3 concentration in the barn and to assess variation in NH3 concentrations mainly related to the animal occupied zone. Further efforts are needed in this field of research to identify low-cost device that could simplify emission estimation from open dairy barns.

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“…Estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural sources encounters several obstacles. For example, there are substantial spatial and temporal variations among sources, and most of the methodologies available require complex and expensive equipment making it difficult to sample a significant number of farms (Larios et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2016). In order to estimate emissions accurately, it is necessary to use precise, reproducible, robust and economic methods (Berndt & Tomkins, 2013;FAO, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of passive flux samplers based on adsorption to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sources

Larios

Godbout

Brar

et al. 2018

Biosystems Engineering

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Passive flux samplers (PFSs) packed with adsorbents are used to estimate gaseous emissions. A key condition of their use is maintaining a linear relationship between internal and external air velocities. The performance of PFSs designs depends on the characteristics of the adsorption bed and on the sampler design. The parameters required to enable PFSs to estimate greenhouse (GHG) emissions from agricultural sources were studied. The effect of the particle size of the adsorbent used as collector medium was analyzed theoretically using the Ergun equation. Three orifice plates with 0.5, 0.7 and 1 mm bore diameter were evaluated in order to determine the most appropriate diameter to control air flow through a new passive flux sampler (PFS) prototype while maintaining adequate linearity between internal and external air velocity. The effect of the adsorbent bed thickness (19, 50, 100 and 200 mm) on the internal-external air velocity relationship in the PFS was evaluated. The best performance was obtained using the 0.7 mm orifice plate and an adsorbent bed thickness of 50 mm. Spherical adsorbents with high adsorption capacity are recommended in order to decrease the adsorbent bed thickness and improve sampling performance. A series of experiments showed that the estimated mass flow obtained by the developed PFS was close to the confidence interval of values obtained by direct detection. Thus, the developed PFS can be used as a tool for the estimating of GHG emissions from agricultural sources.

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Reliable low-cost devices for monitoring ammonia concentrations and emissions in naturally ventilated dairy barns

Cited by 19 publications

References 34 publications

Assessing Influence Factors on Daily Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from an Open-Sided Cubicle Barn in Hot Mediterranean Climate

Assessing Influence Factors on Daily Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from an Open-Sided Cubicle Barn in Hot Mediterranean Climate

Assessment of a Low-cost Portable Device for the Gas Concentration Monitoring in Livestock Housing

Development of passive flux samplers based on adsorption to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sources

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