Quality assured measurements of animal building emissions: gas concentrations.
Comprehensive field studies were initiated in 2002 to measure emissions of ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), particulate matter <10 microm in diameter, and total suspended particulate from swine and poultry production buildings in the United States. This paper focuses on the quasicontinuous gas concentration measurement at multiple locations among paired barns in seven states. Documented principles, used in air pollution monitoring at industrial sources, were applied in developing quality assurance (QA) project plans for these studies. Air was sampled from multiple locations with each gas analyzed with one high quality commercial gas analyzer that was located in an environmentally controlled on-farm instrument shelter. A nominal 4 L/min gas sampling system was designed and constructed with Teflon wetted surfaces, bypass pumping, and sample line flow and pressure sensors. Three-way solenoids were used to automatically switch between multiple gas sampling lines with > or =10 min sampling intervals. Inside and outside gas sampling probes were between 10 and 115 m away from the analyzers. Analyzers used chemiluminescence, fluorescence, photoacoustic infrared, and photoionization detectors for NH3, H2S, CO2, CH4, and NMHC, respectively. Data were collected using personal computer-based data acquisition hardware and software. This paper discusses the methodology of gas concentration measurements and the unique challenges that livestock barns pose for achieving desired accuracy and precision, data representativeness, comparability and completeness, and instrument calibration and maintenance.
Heber
Albert J
AJ
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. heber@purdue.edu
Ni
Ji-Qin
JQ
Lim
Teng T
TT
Tao
Pei-Chun
PC
Schmidt
Amy M
AM
Koziel
Jacek A
JA
Beasley
David B
DB
Hoff
Steven J
SJ
Nicolai
Richard E
RE
Jacobson
Larry D
LD
Zhang
Yuanhui
Y
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000032:analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis; D011786:Quality Control; D014481:United States
D000393:Air Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D000641:Ammonia; D008697:Methane; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide