Seasonal And Diurnal Odour Emission Profiles From Swine Manure Storages

Abstract

The objective of this study is to obtain seasonal and diurnal odour emission profiles from swine manure storage basins. Six earthen manure storage basins on three swine production sites were measured using wind tunnel method. Odour emissions were measured once a month from May to September. Two basins (cells 1 and 2 on finishing site) were also measured every three hours for two consecutive days. No clear seasonal patterns were found regarding odour concentration or emission rate. Due to the large seasonal variations, geometric means of odour concentration and emission rates are recommended for estimating odour emissions from similar manure storage facilities. Relying on one or two measurements may either underestimate or overestimate odour emission values. The mean odour concentration was higher for cell-2s than cell-1s (1111 vs. 878 OU), so was the odour emission rate (means of 79 OU m-2 s-1 for cell 2s and 67 OU m-2 s-1 for cell-1s). No consistent diurnal patterns were observed regarding odour concentration or emission rate. The geometric means of multiple measurements at different times of a day should be used to represent odour emission rate from a manure storage basin. Air temperature and manure temperature had no significant effect on odour concentration and emission rates of the two cells (P>0.05).