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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #314255
Title: Development of pilot modules for recovering gaseous ammonia from poultry manure

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item Millner, Patricia
item SANCHEZ BASCONES, M - University Of Valladolid
item Szogi, Ariel
item Brigman Jr, Percy
item BAUBENG, F - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item TIMMONS, J - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item HASHEM, F.M. - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2015
Publication Date: 3/31/2015
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Millner, P.D., Sanchez Bascones, M., Szogi, A.A., Brigman, P.W., Baubeng, F., Timmons, J., Hashem, F. 2015. Development of pilot modules for recovering gaseous ammonia from poultry manure. In: Proceedings Waste to Worth: Advancing Sustainability in Animal Agriculture. Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center International Conference, March 30-April 3, 2015, Seattle, Washington.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There is major interest from producers and the public on implementing best control technologies that would abate ammonia (NH3) emissions from confined livestock and poultry operations by capturing and recovering nitrogen (N). In this study, we continued investigation on development of gas-permeable membrane modules as components of new processes to capture and recover gaseous ammonia inside poultry houses, composting facilities and other livestock installations. The overall research objective was to improve poultry houses with the introduction of nitrogen emission capture technology. There were two milestones during the initial phase of the study: 1) to test ammonia recovery with gas-permeable membranes in a bench system using Maryland’s poultry manure; and 2) to construct and install a pilot ammonia recovery system at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Poultry Research facility. The prototype ammonia recovery bench system using gas-permeable modules was moved from ARS-Florence to ARS-BARC in September 2013 and tested during three consecutives runs using turkey and chicken manure mixes. The bench unit had two chambers: one was used with recirculating acid solution (1 normal sulfuric acid) and the other was a control that used recirculating water. Surprisingly, the control that used water as the capture solution was very effective at recovering the ammonia. This finding may lead to more economical ammonia recovery systems in the future. Two pilot ammonia recovery systems using gas-permeable membranes were constructed at ARS-Florence and installed at UMES poultry facility in June 2014. One ammonia recovery module was developed using flat membranes mounted on troughs. The other module was developed using tubular gas-permeable membranes. The recovery manifolds were placed inside the experimental barns (400 chickens) hanging from the roof and close to the litter. Both systems were installed with the ammonia concentrator tanks outside the barns. They were tested continuously for four months without chickens in the barns. The first batch of birds will be placed February 2015. The installed modules will demonstrate the ammonia recovery and the potential poultry production benefits from cleaner air.