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DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMISSION FACTOR FOR AMMONIA EMISSIONS FROM U.S. SWINE FARMS BASED ON FIELD TESTS AND APPLICATION OF A MASS BALANCE METHOD
Citation:
Doorn, M. J., D. F. Natschke, S. A. Thorneloe*, AND J. Southerland. DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMISSION FACTOR FOR AMMONIA EMISSIONS FROM U.S. SWINE FARMS BASED ON FIELD TESTS AND APPLICATION OF A MASS BALANCE METHOD. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 36(36-37):5619-5625, (2002).
Description:
This paper summarizes and discusses recent available U.S. and European information on
ammonia (NH3) emissions from swine farms and assesses the applicability for general use
in the United States. The emission rates for the swine barns calculated by various methods show
good agreement and suggest that the barns are a more significant source than previously
thought. A general emission factor for barns of 3.7 +/- 1.0 kg NH3/year/finisher pig or 59 +/- 10 g NH3/kg live weight/year is recommended. For lagoons, it was found that there is good similarity between the field test results and the number calculated by a mass balance method. The suggested annual NH3emission factor for lagoons, based on field tests at one swine farm lagoon in North Carolina, is 2.4 kg/year/pig. Emission rates from spray-fields were estimated using a total mass balance approach, while subtracting the barn and lagoon emissions.
The total emission rates for finishing pigs at the test farm compared well to the total rate established by a mass balance approach based on nitrogen intake and volatilization. Therefore, it was concluded that a mass balance approach can be helpful in estimating NH3 emissions from swine farms. A general emission factor of 7 +/- 2 kg NH3/pig/year could be developed, which is comparable to general European emission factors, which varied from 4.8 to 64 kg NH3/pig/year.