Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #179396
Title: AN INEXPENSIVE LABORATORY AND FIELD CHAMBER FOR MANURE VOLATILE GAS ANALYSIS

Author
item Woodbury, Bryan
item Miller, Daniel
item Eigenberg, Roger
item Nienaber, John

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASAE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/2006
Publication Date: 6/1/2006
Citation: Woodbury, B.L., Miller, D.N., Eigenberg, R.A., Nienaber, J.A. 2006. An inexpensive laboratory and field chamber for manure volatile gas analysis. Transactions of the ASABE 49(3):767-772.

Interpretive Summary: Inexpensive equipment is needed to study odor generation. Before odors can be managed, it is necessary to understand how odors are formed. This paper describes a measurement tool that can be used in both the laboratory and the field. The equipment controls the airspace above the odor source so that samples can be easily collected. Tests showed that the equipment performed accurately. The equipment will be used in future studies on odor management research.

Technical Abstract: Understanding the interactions between the environment and emission from livestock waste is essential in developing management practices designed to minimize negative environmental consequences. However, the protocol and equipment necessary to investigate these interactions at the laboratory or field-scale do not exist or are expensive. Therefore, an inexpensive dynamic flux chamber (cost: <$400 per unit) was developed to measure gaseous emissions from cattle manure in laboratory and field experiments. The hemispherical stainless steel chamber was constructed with an internal gas mixing fan. A port was attached to the chamber top, which facilitated the collection of headspace gas samples for greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds (VOC) by solid phase microextraction (SPME). The chamber was tested to evaluate flow characteristics, and was found to perform very similar to a continuously flow stirred reactor. Thus, concentrations measured at the sampling port were indicative of concentrations anywhere in the headspace. In laboratory and field applications, the inexpensive dynamic flux chamber was easy to use and required little operator input to quickly obtain multiple samples to measure the relative emissions of greenhouse gases, NH3, and VOC from multiple sites in cattle feedlot pens.