Achieving a Greater Reduction of Airborne Emissions from Swine Buildings by the Combination of Different Technologies

Abstract.

Swine housing can emit substantial amounts of aerial contaminants that can affect pig health as well as put both swine industry workers and rural communities at risk. Over the years, different strategies have successfully reduced some airborne contaminants, but few studies characterized the combined effect of several technologies on emissions from pig buildings. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the reduction of gases (ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide), dust, odorous compounds and bioaerosols from the use of 3 airborne contaminant reduction strategies: manure separation, oil sprinkling and a biotrickling filter (ATU). These strategies were used alone and combined in order to determine the best combination to be implemented in a commercial-scale pig building. To compare their effect, 8 environmentally controlled chambers housing 4-5 grower/finisher pigs were used to produce the airborne contaminants. The air temperature, humidity and flow rate were monitored continuously over each 7 week trial and four replicates were carried out. The manure separation with the v-shaped scraper provided about 30% of ammonia reduction, while the oil sprinkling removed about 75% of the particles above PM 2.5, and reduced the total bacteria concentration by about 100x compared to control conditions. They both slightly reduced odor intensity. The ATU showed the best performances overall by reducing about 66% of ammonia, an average of 75% of dust, almost 70% of odor and 10x total bacteria compare to the control. These three strategies are complementary in order to improve air quality both inside and outside pig houses.