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Analysis of the dust emissions from a naturally ventilated turkey house using tracer gas method

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 188, Article number: 377 (2016) Cite this article

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) emissions are becoming increasingly important in licensing procedures for the construction of new livestock houses or for the modernization of existing ones. Emission predictions require reliable data about emission rates. On this account, it is necessary to obtain information about the emission development and the relevant influencing factors in naturally ventilated turkey houses. The primary objective of the present research was to describe different aspects of PM emissions from a naturally ventilated turkey house. This includes the quantification of PM emissions and descriptions of the relevant influencing factors. Moreover, the tracer gas decay (TGD) method for ventilation rate estimation had to be used. To determine the emission mass flow from livestock buildings, it was necessary to measure the concentration of the target substance in the exhaust air and the airflow volume. The PM concentration measurements were carried out with a light scattering aerosol spectrometer in the exhaust air. The airflow volume was determined using the TGD method. To this purpose, tracer gas was injected into the supply air before the concentration decay was measured in the exhaust air of the building. The main influences on the PM concentration and the PM size distribution were shown to be animal activity and air volume flow. For the turkey barn, the PM emission factor averaged 0.027 g h−1 animal−1 over the entire year. If service times were to be included in the calculation, the emission factor 0.021 g h−1 animal−1, again averaged over the entire year, is well below the regulatory limit.

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Abbreviations

\( {\overset{.}{m}}_{\mathrm{s}} \) :

PM mass flow (g h−1)

v · :

Air volume flow (m3 h−1)

Φw :

Wind direction (°)

V w :

Wind speed (m s−1)

A f :

Exhaust air area of the room (m2)

A s :

Supply air area (m2)

T a :

Outside air temperature (°C)

C e :

Particle concentration in exhaust air (g m−3)

C o :

Particle concentration in outside air (g m−3)

\( {C}_{t_i} \) :

Mass concentration at the time t i (g m−3)

\( {C}_{t_0} \) :

Mass concentration at the time t 0 (g m−3)

V :

Animal house volume (m3)

t :

Time (s)

C d :

Coefficient of flow resistance

C w :

Coefficient of the wind flow

PM:

Particulate matter

PM2.5 :

Particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 μm

PM10 :

Particulate matter with a diameter <10 μm

PE:

Polyethylene tube

TGD:

Tracer gas decay

NaSt3D:

Navier-Stokes in three dimensional (propagation model)

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to show their appreciation for the financing organizations, Zentralverband der deutschen Geflügelwirtschaft (ZDG) and Big Dutchman International Company GmbH. We also thank the animal housing owners for giving us the opportunity for achieving this study in their farm.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Bonn University, Nussallee 5, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Ehab Mostafa & Wolfgang Buescher

  2. Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, El-Gammaa Street, 12613, Giza, Egypt

    Ehab Mostafa

  3. Institute of Physics, Bonn University, Nussallee 12, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Bernd Diekmann

  4. Federal Office for Agriculture and food, Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179, Rheinbach, Germany

    Till Schneider

Authors
  1. Ehab Mostafa
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  2. Bernd Diekmann
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  3. Wolfgang Buescher
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  4. Till Schneider
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Correspondence to Ehab Mostafa.

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Mostafa, E., Diekmann, B., Buescher, W. et al. Analysis of the dust emissions from a naturally ventilated turkey house using tracer gas method. Environ Monit Assess 188, 377 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5355-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5355-7

Keywords

  • Particulate matter
  • Emission rate
  • Air volume flow
  • SF6
  • Naturally ventilated barn