U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory: Beltsville, MD
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                                    Software
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications
- People
- Research Sites
- Pesticide Volatilization
- Watershed Modeling
- Climate Change
- Soil Moisture
- Drought and ET
- HRSL Brochure

Title:   Author  item
                                            YAO, Q. - University Of Marylanditem
                                            Hapeman, Cathleenitem
                                            LI, H. - University Of Delawareitem
                                            BUSER, M. - Oklahoma State Universityitem
                                            Alfieri, Josephitem
                                            MCCONNELL, L.L. - University Of Marylanditem
                                            Downey, Peteritem
                                            YANG, ZIJIANG - University Of Marylanditem
                                            TORRENTS, A. - University Of Maryland
  Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
                                    Publication Type: Abstract Only
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2016
                                    Publication  Date: 7/17/2016
                                    Citation: Yao, Q., Hapeman, C.J., Li, H., Buser, M., Alfieri, J.G., Mcconnell, L., Downey, P.M., Yang, Z., Torrents, A. 2016. Mitigating ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from poultry houses using vegetative environmental buffers. ASABE Annual International Meeting. AGRO 135..Interpretive Summary:
                                Technical Abstract: The expansion of the poultry industry due to the growing demand of livestock products is putting considerable stress on the atmospheric environment and is also a public health concern. While many regulators and researchers identify land-applied poultry manure as a source of air pollutants, less is known about air emissions from the poultry houses which emit ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through their ventilation systems. As an irritating malodorous air pollutant, ammonia is also an important component of aerosol formation which contributes a considerable amount (30% - 50%) to criteria air pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10. Odious VOCs put people and animals in an unpleasant environment, in extreme cases the compounds cause health issues. The odor also jeopardizes the value of the neighborhood. Vegetative Environmental Buffers (VEBs) are vegetation designed as a visual screen, which usually consist of trees, shrubs, grass and other potential plants. VEBs are placed around the poultry houses for the purpose of minimizing the air pollutant emissions. Early studies indicate that VEBs can reduce air pollutant emissions. This project aims to contribute to the National Conservative Practice Standard (NCPS # 380 or # 420) by providing necessary data for effective VEB designs. In this project, field experiments at two different poultry houses were conducted to quantify the efficacy of VEBs in migrating ammonia and VOCs (propene, methanol, ethanol, acetone, acetonitrile, propanol, hexane, butanol, butanal). Time-integrated ammonia and air samples were collected at multiple locations and heights. Air pollutant concentrations in front of and behind the VEBs were compared to evaluate the removal performance. Preliminary results showed significant ammonia concentration decreases with VEBs at both poultry houses. Ammonia concentrations increased inside the buffer in some of the experiments, suggesting that ammonia might be trapped in between the rows of vegetation. Some volatile organic compounds showed a decreasing concentration gradient with VEBs present.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov