The Effects of Environmental Conditions on Concentration and Emission of Ammonia in Chicken Farms during Summer Season

Abstract

This paper presents a field study conducted in northwest Turkey and characterizes the NH3 concentration and emission measured in summer season from three chicken farms. The influence of environmental conditions on NH3 concentration and emission was also investigated in this study. Ammonia concentration, temperature, relative humidity and airflow rate were continuously recorded for four sequential days. The environmental conditions were measured using a multifunction temperature and humidity-meter with a hot wire probe. Portable multiple gas detectors with electro-chemical sensors were used to measure NH3 concentration. The NH3 emission rates for houses were calculated by multiplying simultaneously measured NH3 concentrations and air flow rates. The average daily mean (ADM) house concentrations of house 1 (H1), house 2 (H2), and house 3 (H3) were measured as 4.43, 3.71, and 6.20 ppm, respectively. NH3 concentration was inversely proportional to temperature (r = −0.279), relative humidity (r = −0.063) and airflow rate (r = −0.554) for all monitored houses. The ADM house NH3 emission was 135 g/(h house) for H1, 255 g/(h house) for H2, and 117 g/(h house) for H3. The combined average emission rate in this study (0.26 g/(d bird)) was lower than the emission rate measured in chicken farms in the USA. However, our results were comparable to rates calculated in European studies because house design, ventilation system and bird diet applied in Turkish chicken farms are very similar to those employed in European countries. The NH3 emissions were significantly correlated to NH3 concentrations (r = 0.45, p ≤ 0.001) and airflow rates (r = 0.97, p ≤ 0.001). A clear diurnal pattern was obtained for NH3 concentrations rather than NH3 emissions at the end of the study.