VOC emissions from beef feedlot pen surfaces as affected by within-pen location, moisture and temperature

Abstract

Feedlot Gas chromatographyOdour VOC 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 feed trough (bunk), drainage, and raised areas (mounds) within three feedlot pens. The surface materials were mixed with water to represent dry, wet, or saturated conditions and then incubated at temperatures of 5, 15, 25 and 35 C. A wind tunnel and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer were used to collect and quantify emissions of eight volatile fatty acids (VFAs), 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 materials collected near the mound area. The largest VFA and aromatic emissions resulted for the dry moisture condition while wet and saturated conditions produced the largest sulfide emissions.Temperature affected emission of each VOC except indole, with values generally increasing as temperature increased. Odour activity value (OAV), which was the ratio of measured concentration of a single compound normalised to the odour threshold for that compound, was calculated for each compound. Four VFAs contributed 7.5% of the total OAV but only one aromatic, 4-methylphenol, was a major contributor to total OAV at 2.5%.In comparison, sulfide compounds contributed 87.3% of the total OAV. This research shows VOC emissions are affected by pen location, moisture condition, and temperature.Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IAgrE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Abbreviations: AFOs, animal feeding operations; DMDS, dimethyl disulfide; DMTS, dimethyl trisulfide; OAV, odour activity value; VFAs, volatile fatty acids; VOCs, volatile organic compounds; WDGS, wet distillers grains with solubles. * USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. The mention of trade names of commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the USDA. ScienceDirect jo urnal homepage: www .e lsev ie r.com/ locate/issn/153 75110 b i o s y s t e m s e n g i n e e r i n g 1 3 4 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 3 1 e4 1 http://dx.

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs): chemical compositions and separation of sources

“…Sulfur-containing species contribute the largest fractions (51-91 %) to total OAVs at different sites, followed by phenolic species (6-37 %) and carboxylic acids (3-11 %). The relative contributions of different species to OAV agree well with previous estimates based on measurements from a beef feed yard (Woodbury et al, 2015).…”

“…We utilize odor activity value (OAV) and the OH and NO 3 reactivity to evaluate the relative contribution of each VOC class to the two environmental effects, respectively. The dimensionless OAV is estimated from VOC concentrations divided by the species' single compound odor thresholds (SCOT) (OAV i = C i / SCOT i ) (Feilberg et al, 2010;Parker et al, 2010;Woodbury et al, 2015). The reported SCOT values in the literature are highly variable and we use the geometric means of literature values for each compound, as compiled in Parker et al (2010).…”

“…These VOCs can contribute to the formation of ozone (Howard et al, 2010a, b;Gentner et al, 2014) and fine particles (Sintermann et al, 2014;Perraud et al, 2015), both affecting regional air quality. Many VOCs from CAFOs are also responsible for the unpleasant odor problems nearby or downwind of these facilities (McGinn et al, 2003;Rabaud et al, 2003;Parker et al, 2010;Woodbury et al, 2015). Some VOCs (e.g., phenolic species) (US EPA, 2017) from CAFOs are harmful to human health.…”

Surface Application of Soybean Peroxidase and Calcium Peroxide for Reducing Odorous VOC Emissions from Swine Manure Slurry

“…For this reason, with the current thermal desorption system, there is no way to determine whether the VOC originated as methanethiol, DMDS, DMTS, or in combination. The geometric mean odor threshold for methanethiol is about 5 and 31 lower than DMTS and DMDS, respectively, which would result in OAV 5 to 31 higher if the odor originated from methanethiol instead of DMDS or DMTS (Woodbury et al, 2015). If all of the DMDS and DMTS originated from methanethiol, the OAV would range from 48 to 203, and would potentially account for up to 77% of the OAV.…”

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Beef Feedlot Surface Materials as Affected by Diet, Moisture, Temperature, and Time

“…Commercial-sized feedlot pens have designs and slopes that can influence the areas where manure and moisture accumulate on the pen surface. Manure typically accumulates in greater quantities near the feed bunk apron and water trough (Woodbury et al, 2015). The base of the mounds may have a relatively large manure content and greater mixing with soil.…”