Simulation of Impacts of Different Animal Management Practices and Geographic Area on Long-Term Air Quality

Abstract

Simulated impacts of different animal management practices and geographic areas on long-term air quality have been studied using our proposed BTA-AQP (building thermal analysis-air quality predictive) model and statistical analysis methods with four scenarios: building heat loss factor (BHLF), barn setpoint temperature (SPT), animal production schedule (APS), and geographic area (GA). The purpose was to help animal producers and environmental researchers understand the parameters influencing air quality and find a simple, inexpensive, and effective abatement strategy to alleviate airborne pollution from livestock production facilities instead of numerous high-cost gas/odor control technologies. The predicted results indicated that the BHLF scenario had a negligible effect on the source air quality, and the SPT scenario was capable of reducing indoor gas levels during hot weather conditions while the corresponding gas emissions did not increase substantially. Thus, current barn setpoint temperature strategies provide one method to decrease the risk of relatively high gas concentrations (especially H2S concentration) inside the building and protect the health of workers and animals. The APS scenario had no significant effect on mean annual gas concentrations but could lead to a moderate decrease in mean annual gas emissions. It was also found that the GA factor, for the swine deep-pit barns with similar building characteristics and management practices, might have a large impact on indoor gas concentrations but very little effect on mean annual gas emissions.