title: Performance evaluation of a wood-chip based biofilter using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy-olfactometry.
abstract: A pilot-scale mobile biofilter was developed where two types of wood chips (western cedar and 2 in. hardwood) were examined to treat odor emissions from a deep-pit swine finishing facility in central Iowa. The biofilters were operated continuously for 13 weeks at different air flow rates resulting in a variable empty bed residence time (EBRT) from 1.6 to 7.3 s. During this test period, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) PDMS/DVB 65 microm fibers were used to extract volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from both the control plenum and biofilter treatments. Analyses of VOCs were carried out using a multidimentional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (MDGC-MS-O) system. Results indicated that both types of chips achieved significant reductions in p-cresol, phenol, indole and skatole which represent some of the most odorous and odor-defining compounds known for swine facilities. The results also showed that maintaining proper moisture content is critical to the success of wood-chip based biofilters and that this factor is more important than media depth and residence time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Lide
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.forename: Jacek A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Koziel
authors.forename: Lingshuang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zelle
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000392:Air Movements; D000818:Animals; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000379:methods*; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012903:Smell; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction / Q000379:methods*; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014835:Volatilization; D014934:Wood / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals