Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

In recent years, the number of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) has increased within the United States. CAFOs now produce approximately 40% of US livestock. The reduction of costs in feed, facility management, transportation, and labor has caused animal production facilities to favor this scheme of management. However, residents in communities that are in close proximity to CAFOs are concerned about their health, as well as the environment, due to the quantity of malodorous compounds, bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins that these facilities release. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are dedicated to regulating animal feeding operations and the pollutants they emit. As CAFOs operators attempt to decrease their emissions effectively and efficiently, the use of biofiltration in these facilities has been under research. Biofiltration systems contain biologically active media that react with volatile organic compounds and inorganic air toxins while relying on microbial catabolic reactions for waste compounds degradation to improve exflow air quality.