Animal Waste Management

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Animal Waste Management
Water quality
Air quality

• Michael Westendorf
• Rutgers Cooperative Extension
• New Brunswick, New Jersey

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Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship
(LPES) Curriculum
Project Leaders Rick Koelsch, University of
Nebraska and Frank Humenik, North Carolina State
University Project Manager Diane Huntrods, MWPS,
ISU Special thanks to Dr. Sarah Ralston for
Equine Slides

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Objectives

• Introduce principles of environmental
  responsibility and the role animal waste can play
  in sustaining the environment
• Review key environmental issues facing livestock
  industries
• Give a brief overview of Best Management
  principles of manure management
• Briefly describe odor and air emission issues for
  livestock producers

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Animal Waste Management Dilemma

• Increasing animal numbers
• Decreasing land base
• Encroaching suburbia
• New waste management techniques are needed, these
  new techniques may require more management and
  expense

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Prevention Planning for the impossible
North Carolina swine farm flooded after
Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, September 1999
(7,040-head swine feeder-to-finish farm)
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Prevention Responding to Tragedy
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Leading Sources of Water Quality Destruction
Rank Rivers Lakes Waterways
1 Agriculture Agriculture Municipal Point
Sources 2 Municipal Urban Runoff Urban
Runoff Point Sources Storm Sewers Storm
Sewers 3 Urban Runoff Hydrologic/Habitat A
griculture Storm Sewers Modification 4 Reso
urce Municipal Industrial Extraction Point
Sources Point Sources
Source EPA National Water Quality Inventory
Report to Congress 1993
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Sources of N and P to Watersheds in the
Northeastern States (1995 GAO Report to U.S.
Congress)
80 60 40 20 0
Atmosphere Fertilizer Manure
Point Source
Nitrogen Phosphorus
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Manure P vs. Crop Land P Use
lt 25 25 - 50 50 - 100 gt100
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Manure P vs. Crop Land P Use
lt 25 25 - 50 50 - 100 gt100
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Phosphorous Utilization
lt 25 25 - 50 50 - 100 gt100
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Manure P vs. Crop Land P Use
Do you live in region of regional nutrient
concentration?
lt 25 25 - 50 50 - 100 gt100
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Water Quality Contaminantsin Manure
Possible Environmental Pollutants Risk

• 1) nitrate-n health
• 2) ammonia-n fish kills
• 3) phosphorus Eutrophication
• 4) pathogens/bacteria health
• 5) organic matter oxygen depletion

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Environmental Benefits of Manure

• ? Nitrogen leaching potential.
• ? Soil erosion runoff.
• ? Soil carbon/organic matter.
• ? Crop productivity.
• Replaces energy intensive nitrogen fertilizer
  limited resource phosphorous fertilizer - .

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Environmental Benefits of Manure Why?
vs.
Manure
Commercial fertilizer

• Manure contains organic carbon.
• Organic carbon is key to soil health structure.

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Review of Historical Soil Conservation
Experiment Data
Erosion is still the number one source of
nonpoint source pollution in the United States.

• Manure reduced total runoff by 1 to 68.
• Manure reduced soil erosion by 13 to 77.

(Risse and Gilley, 2000)
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Non-Point Source Pollution
Surface water
Groundwater
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What is a Point Source?

• The term point source is defined very broadly in
  the Clean Water Act because it has been through
  25 years of litigation. It means any discernible,
  confined and discrete conveyance, such as a pipe,
  ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, discrete
  fissure, or container. It also includes vessels
  or other floating craft from which pollutants are
  or may be discharged. By law, the term point
  source also includes CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING
  OPERATIONS (CAFO), which are places where animals
  are confined and fed. By law, agricultural storm
  water discharges and return flows from irrigated
  agriculture are not point sources.

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What is a CAFO?

• Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.
• CAFOs are always assumed to be point sources of
  pollution.
• Any farm that discharges animal waste into a
  water body or a wetland could be called a
  point-source polluter no matter how small the
  farm.

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Number of Animal Units Required for a Farm to Be
Designated a CAFO
An Animal Unit is the standard measure in
determining CAFOs. A 1,000-pound steer is the
standard the equivalent number of any other type
of livestock is considered one animal unit.
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Farms That Discharge

• Even small farms might be regulated as CAFOs
  (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) or point
  source polluters if
• Manure is stacked to close to a stream without
  adequate setback
• Manure uncovered ?
• Animals have access to waterways ?
• Waste stacked or spread too close to a wetland
• Lack of vegetative cover

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What Are the Water Quality Concerns Related to
Animal Feeding Operations?

• Manure and wastewater from Animal Feeding
  Operations (AFOs) have the potential to
  contribute pollutants such as nitrogen and
  phosphorus, organic matter, sediments, pathogens,
  heavy metals, hormones, antibiotics, and ammonia
  to the environment. Animal Feeding Operations
  (AFOs) are considered to be non-point source
  polluters.

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Recycling of Nutrients
Inputs
Feed Manure
Losses or Soil
Storage
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Are Nutrient Inputs Outputs in Balance?
Water In
Water Out
1 gal
1 gal
Farm Pond
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Are Nutrient Inputs Outputs in Balance?
Water In
Water Out
1 gal
Farm Pond
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Plugging the Leaks . . .Temporary Solution to
Imbalance
Water In
Water Out
Sand Bags
1 gal
Farm Pond
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Sustainable Solutions Must Correct the Imbalance!
Water In
Water Out
Sand Bags
1.5 gal.
1.5 gal
Farm Pond
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Best Management Practices

• Best management practices or BMPs relating to
  animal waste management are those practices that
  efficiently provide nutrients for uptake by
  plants and minimize nutrient impact on the
  environment.
• Best management practices are very site specific,
  and a BMP in one place may not be useful for
  another location.
• Used to protect and conserve natural resources.
• Structural and managerial.
• Require proper design, training, and maintenance

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BMP Manure Storage

• Avoid spreading near streams or other waterways

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Case Study Improper Modification of Storage
Structure

• 7.3-acre swine lagoon, SE North Carolina.
• No irrigation equipment on site.
• About a week before the spill, farm workers
  improperly installed pipe in lagoon embankment.
• Rainwater from a tropical storm ponded above and
  then scoured out the embankment near where pipe
  was installed.
• The lagoon breached, releasing lagoon effluent
  and sludge.

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• Result
• Over 22 million gallons of effluent and sludge
  were discharged into a nearby creek.
• Approximately 4,000 fish were killed in the creek
  downstream of the spill.
• Response
• Television and print media reported the lagoon
  spill in the state and country. The spill was
  even reported in newspapers as far away as De
  Hague, Netherlands.
• State water quality investigators confirmed the
  spill had caused the fish kill in the creek.
• The farmer was charged with violating state water
  quality standards.

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Action

• The farm was required to depopulate until repairs
  were made to the lagoon, irrigation equipment was
  purchased, and sufficient land application fields
  were cleared and planted.
• The farmer was convicted and fined.

• Repairs and land clearing were completed about
  one and a half years after the lagoon breach.

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Where to Locate Manure Storage? Where to Spread
Manure?

• Geological Investigation

Streams
Lakes
Aquifers/water tables
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Using Soil Surveys/Maps

• Soil types/soil series
• Area limits of various soil types
• Slope and topography
• Erosion
• Drainage
• Physical features

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Choosing a Manure Storage Facility

• Land application methods, solid vs. liquid
• Type of bedding
• Hauling, distances, volume
• Space, more space is required for earthen
  structures than for tanks
• Treatment

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What Type of Manure Storage Facility Should I
Select?

• Treatment Considerations
• Biological treatment--lagoon storage
• Solids separation--solids liquid storage

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What Type of Manure Storage Facility Should I
Select?

• Space Considerations
• More space is required for earthen impoundments.
• Less space is required for tanks

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Slurry Manure Storage Outside Tanks

• Usually concrete or glass-lined steel tanks.
• Manure may be pumped or flow into tank by
  gravity.
• Agitation is necessary.
• Tanks may be covered for odor control.

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Slurry Manure Storage Earthen Basins

• Usually less costly than tanks
• Can accommodate some lot runoff
• Requires soils investigation and seal
  construction
• Mowing and berm maintenance required

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Liquid Manure Storage Lagoons

• Commonly used when some treatment needed for
  handling or reduced odors
• Contain a permanent treatment volume for bacteria
• Earthen structures larger than slurry facilities

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Solid Manure Storage

• Covered facilities
• Tarp may provide cover with less cost and more
  labor
• Stack or stockpile in a well-drained area for
  later hauling
• Regulations may require runoff control

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Manure Stacking Facility

• Allows for the accumulation of solids
• Inexpensive method of separating liquids from
  solids
• Leachate can be controlled
• Works only with solid manure waste

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Grass filter strips

• Inexpensive to install
• Removes some solids from liquids
• Maintenance is not easy
• Needs to be long and flat
• Channel flow reduces effectiveness

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Grass filter strips
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Manure Storage

• Site selection, flat, relatively impermeable,
  deep water table
• Not near streams or wetlands
• Keep covered if possible

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BMP Solid Manure Removal Collection and Loading
Scraper blades
Front-end loaders
Skid-steer loaders
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Solid Manure Removal Collection and Loading
Manure spreaders
Trucks
Tractor-pulled carts
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BMP Manure Spreading

• Spreader
• Do you know the rate?
• How about the spreader pattern?

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Slope

• Apply manure to sites with the gentlest slopes as
  possible.
• Avoid fields with slopes gt10.
• Measure slopes whenever possible (contact
  Extension Agent or NRCS for assistance).

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Application rates that exceed soil infiltration
result in runoff
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The Nitrogen Cycle
Lighting Rainfall
N2 Fixation
N2O NO N2
Plant - Animal Residues
Plant Uptake
Volatilization
NO3- / NH4
N2
SOIL ORGANIC MATTER
NH3
N2O
Mineralization
NO
NH4
R-NH2
R-NH2
NO2
NO3-
Aminization
Ammonification
Denitrification
Immobilization
NO3-
NO2-
Nitrification
Leaching
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Critical Sources of P Loss
P loss vulnerability Low (clear)) Medium High
90 of P export comes from lt 20 of watershed
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Which Manure Where?

• Apply manure with the highest N content in the
  spring or fall and with the lowest in the summer.
• Match manure value to crop yield potential.
• High N manure to high N requirement crops
• High P manure to soils with lowest P levels

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• Export litter/manure when total N exceeds
  capacity.

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BMP Manure Analysis
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BMP Soil Testing

• Monitor soil pH and nutrients.
• Fine tune Manure Management Plan.
• Take representative samples.
• Review analysis with technical specialist.

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BMP Buffers/Field Borders

• Setbacks and natural treatment area to protect
• Wells
• Streams
• Wetlands
• Neighbors
• Grass/forested buffers provide the most
  protection
• Stream Bank Management
• Runoff Control
• Windbreaks

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Buffers and Separations

• May be required by state or local regulations
• Good Practice Recommendations
• Usually protect/setback
• Surface water, wetlands
• Wells
• Neighbors, churches, schools

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Riparian Buffers Reduce N and P Loss
Cornfield
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Surface runoff Subsurface flow
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N
P
40
4
20
2
87
79
0
0
N
N
P
P
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Runoff Control
Buffer between field edges and ditches can reduce
nutrient movement offsite. Grassed waterways can
reduce nutrient movement to ditches, streams, and
rivers.
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Stream Bank Management

• Buffers filter/treat
• Sediment
• Nutrients
• Pathogens

Before
After
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BMP Streambank/Waterway Fencing
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BMPs?

• Animals with access to surface water can be a
  direct source of pollution.

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Buffers and Field Borders

• Buffers and field borders should be used to
  reduce animal waste contamination in order to
  protect streams, wetlands, wells, and etc.
• Buffers and borders can reduce neighborhood
  complaints.
• Animals should not be allowed access to streams
  and wetlands.
• Streambank fences can be used to reduce access to
  streams and wetlands.

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BMP Erosion Control
Terraces, strip cropping, cover crops, etc.
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BMP Pasture/Crop Management
Healthy crops use more nutrients.
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Pasture/Crop Management
Poor crop stands can result in inadequate
nutrient uptake
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Pasture Management
Nutrient management reduces the manure
application rate on grazed pasture because of
recycling.
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Cover Crops Reduce Erosion and P Loss
No cover crop Cover crop
Annual loss
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Erosion tonne/ha/yr
Total P kg/ha/yr
Dissolved P kg/ha/yr
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BMP Feed Storage
Hay bales should be covered to reduce the
nutrients leaching back into the soil.
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BMP Feeding Management
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Effect of Diet on N, P, and K Excretion

• N, P, and K excretion varies with amount in diet.
• Excretion also varies with the level of feed
  intake.
• It is possible to predict N, P, and K excretion
  based on feed intake, growth rate, level of
  exercise, and performance.

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Run-in Sheds andExercise Lots
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What is included in a Nutrient Management Plan?

• Manure handling and storage plan
• Land application plan
• Site management plan
• Record keeping
• Alternative manure use plan
• Feed management plan

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BMP Record Keeping

• Keep track of manure and fertilizer applications.
• Keep manure and soil analyses for several years.
• Consider computer record-keeping programs.
• Other records rainfall, wind speed and
  direction, lagoon levels, self-inspection forms.

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Bedding Use

• Typical materials are sawdust, hay, straw, wood
  shavings, and sand.
• Be careful when using hard wood shavings (eg.
  black walnut).
• Typical use scenarios are horse stalls, run-in
  sheds, bedded pack barns, broiler houses, etc.
• Volume addition due to bedding may be 1/3 to 1/2
  of the original dry bedding volume.
• Manure tends to fill void spaces between bedding
  material particles.

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Bedding Characteristics
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Composting

• Natural aerobic process for stabilizing organic
  matter
• Well composted manure has humus smell, 25-50
  volume reduction, and destruction of pathogens
  and weed seeds due to heat of composting.

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Composting

• Production of a more homogeneous material
• Final compost is dry making it easier to spread
  and manage
• May have marketability (mushroom compost, organic
  compost ??)

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Composting Principles
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Composting Bins
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Turning Compost
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Composted Horse Manure
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Vermicomposting

• Earthworms and microorganisms convert organic
  materials into nutrient rich humus called
  vermicompost.
• Worms separated from the castings or compost
  have high value as animal and aquaculture feed.
• Techniques range from boxed and outdoor windrows
  to automatic systems.

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Vermicomposting

• More than 5 tons/wk of swine manure being vermi-
  composted on a 15 ft by 15 ft concrete pad.
• Greenhouse trials with ornamental and vegetable
  crops showed increased blooming, larger plants,
  and increased root growth when vermicompost was
  15-35. Plant performance decreased when
  vermicompost was greater.
• Castings sold in 2-, 10-, and 25-lb bags marked
  "Vermicycle natures ultimate plant food."

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• Compost litter/manure to a stable endpoint

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• Feed composted litter in livestock feeding
  systems.

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Anaerobic Digestion
To Fields and Additional Storage
OUT
Digester
Solids Sold
Existing 500 Free Stall Barn
Milking Parlor
DIG
SEP
P
P
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Most Neighbor Complaints Arise from Land
Application
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Get Along With Neighbors
Reduce Odors Traffic Noise Flies Increase Communi
cations
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Sources of odors

• Animals
• Manure
• Waste water
• Feed

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Environmental Impacts of Odors

• Community nuisance
• Psychological impact on neighbors (anger,
  depression, etc.)
• Physiological impact on neighbors (respiratory
  problems, nausea, etc.)

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Odors ? Emissions
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Airborne Emission Sources
1. Housing
2. Storage
3. Land Application
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Air Emissions--Odor

• Multiple gases contribute to odor
• Volatile fatty acids
• Carbon dioxide and methane
• Nitrogen containing compounds (ammonia, amines,
  nitrogen heterocycles)
• Phenols cresols
• Sulfur-containing compounds

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Odor and Gas Dispersion
Odor and Gas Dispersion
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Factors Affecting Odor Release and Dispersion

• Wind speed

2. Area
1. Temperature 2. Wind speed 3. Topography
3. Source concentration
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BMPs Windbreaks
Reduce odors from manure storages and odor drift
from land application sites
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Anthropogenic Emissions by Compound and Sector
for the Years 1890 and 1990
In Parentheses total global anthropogenic
emissions.
Taken from Van Aardenne et al., (2001)
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Typical Lifetimes in the Planetary Boundary Layer
for Pollutants Emitted from Animal Feeding
Operations
Source National Research Council. 2003. Air
Emissions. Washington, DC.
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(NH3) Ammonia Emissions

• Produced when urea in urine mixes with bacterial
  urease in feces.
• Globally 50 of ammonia emissions from animal
  agriculture. 25 comes from agriculture land.
• Exposure to ammonia has known health effects.
• Can contribute to ecosystem fertilization,
  acidification and eutrophication.
• As a bioaerosol, ammonia contributes to PM2.5.
• Since NH3 and NH4 reside in the atmosphere for a
  matter of days, a regional scale is needed to
  assess environmental effects and control.

Source National Research Council. 2003. Air
Emissions. Washington, DC Van Aardenne et al.,
(2001)
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Short-Term Exposure to Ammonia
Source National Research Council. 2003. Air
Emissions. Washington, DC.
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Long-term Exposure to Ammonia
Source National Research Council. 2003. Air
Emissions. Washington, DC.
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What is Particulate Matter?

• Particulate matter or PM is the term for
  particles found in the air. This includes dust,
  smoke, dirt, and bioaerosols. Some are large or
  dark enough to be detected as smoke or soot.
  Others can be detected only under a microscope.
• PM can be directly emitted into the air, from
  cars, trucks, factories, wood-burning,
  tree-cutting, construction, etc.

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• PM can also be formed in the air from chemical
  changes of gases as gases react with water vapor,
  sunlight, and other gases in the air to form PM
  complexes.

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Key PM2.5 Source Categories
Direct Emissions
Precursor Emissions

• Carbonaceousa,b
• Residential Wood Burning
• Managed Burning
• Non-Road Mobile
• Wildfires
• Residential Waste Burning
• On Road Mobile
• Power Gen. Coal
• Boilers (Oil, Gas)
• Boilers (Wood)
• Crustal / Metalsb
• Fugitive Dust
• Mineral Production
• Ferrous Metals

• SOXc
• Power Gen. (Coal)
• Power Gen. (Oil)
• Boilers (Coal)
• Boilers (Oil)
• Pulp and Paper
• NOX
• On Road Mobile (Gas, Diesel)
• Non Road Mobile (Diesel)
• Power Gen. (Coal)
• Boilers (Gas)
• Residential (Gas, Oil)
• Mineral Production

• NH3
• Animal Husbandry
• Fertilizer Application
• On Road and Non Road
• Wastewater Treatment
• Boilers
• VOCd
• Biogenics
• Solvent Use
• On Road (Gas)
• Storage and Transportation
• Residential Wood
• Petro Industry
• Waste Disposal

aIncludes organic particles, elemental carbon and
condensible organic particles bImpact of
carbonaceous emissions on ambient PM 5 to 10
times more than crustal emissions
impact cIncludes SO2, and SO3 and H2SO4
condensible inorganics dContributes to formation
of secondary organic aerosols
From Pace and Saeger, OAQPS Emissions Inventory
Conference, Denver, CO, May 2001
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Particulate Matter Formation
Source USEPA www.epa.gov
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Particulate Matter Formation
Source USEPA www.epa.gov
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PM of Animal Origin

• Can contain dust, fecal matter, feed dust and
  materials, skin cells, and products of microbial
  digestion.
• May also contain allergens, microorganisms,
  bacterial byproducts, and fungal byproducts.
• Chemicals of animal origin such as NH3, H2S, NOX,
  and VOCs also contribute to PM.
• Water vapor.

Source Thorne, Iowa CAFO Air Quality Study,
2002 Kullman et al., 1998
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Other Emission Materials

• Dust
• Pathogens
• Flies