Odor Tour for Swine Facilities

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Odor Tour for Swine Facilities

• September 4-5, 2002
• Sponsored by
• University of Nebraska Extension and
• Nebraska Pork Producers Association

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Mike Kats Farm, 1500-head nursery and 1200-head
finisherOdor Treatment Technology Ozone
Treatment of Room Air

• Host Mike Kats, farm owner, and Scott Postma,
  owner of Ozone Solutions
• Principle Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent
  and a very effective natural germicide. It is
  commonly used in Europe for treatment of drinking
  water. Because of its very reactive nature,
  ozone has the potential for oxidizing odorous
  compounds and converting them into non-odorous
  carbon dioxide and water vapor.
• Application Ozone gas is generated by corona
  discharge (electrical discharge) within a cabinet
  mounted on the exterior of the housing facility.
  The ozone is distributed throughout a room using
  PVC pipe mounted near the ceiling of the room.
  Holes drilled in the PVC pipe provide even
  distribution of ozone within the room.
• Advantages/Disadvantages Research to date on
  ozone application to ventilation air has
  indicated variable results. Significant
  reductions in ammonia and some additional odorous
  gases, as well as dust, have been observed.
  However, reductions in volatile fatty acids (a
  common source of livestock odors) and some
  measures of overall odor have suggested little or
  no benefit. Small improvements in feed
  efficiency have been documented. Improvements in
  animal health have been reported but not
  documented in peer-reviewed literature. At high
  concentrations ozone is toxic to humans and
  animals, so basic safeguards must be followed.
• Cost The manufacturer estimated the capital
  cost to be between 2 and 10 per pig space.
  Operating costs for the finisher that we visited
  were reported to be between 1 and 1.50 per day
  for electrical costs and about 200 per year to
  rebuild the ozone generator.

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Reick Farm, contract operation for
Prestage-Stoeker, 3,330-head finisher Odor
Treatment Technology Straw Cover on Manure
Storage.
Host Nancy Reick, farm owner, and Nathan
Anderson, Prestage-Stoeker Principle Floating
covers for manure storage can provide significant
odor control benefits. Straw-based covers
provide physical separation between the manure
surface and air sweeping across the surface. In
addition, the straw cover provides a zone rich in
aerobic bacteria for treating odorous gases
released from the manure. Conventional practice
is to apply 5 to 10 inches of straw (barley is
preferred, but wheat is more common) in
mid-spring, add to the straw layer during
August-September, and agitate the weathered straw
in with the manure during pumpout in the fall or
early spring. Application Straw cover was
applied to an earthen basin for a 3,300-head
finisher. Average Prestage-Stoeker cost is
1,300 per facility per year. Wheat straw is
most commonly used. In the fall, manure is
aggressively agitated to incorporate straw as
well as suspend settled solids and land applied
with a towed-hose injection system or tanker with
injection unit. Advantages/Disadvantages
Significant reductions in odors, hydrogen
sulfide, and ammonia emissions have been
documented as long as the straw cover remains
floating. Breakdown and sinking of the straw
into the manure can be a problem that frequently
requires the addition of more straw during late
summer. This problem was apparent at this
facility at the time of our visit and was at a
point where attention was needed. Cost Average
Prestage-Stoeker cost is 1,300 per facility per
year (straw and equipment)
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Neal Johnson Farm, 1200-sow facility Odor
Control Technology Geotextile and Straw Covers
on Manure Storage.
Host Neal Johnson, farm owner, and John
Baumgartner, Owner of Baumgartner
Environics. Principle Floating covers for
manure storage can provide significant odor
control benefits. Both straw and geotextile
covers were in place to limit gas release and to
provide some treatment of odorous gases. A
geotextile cover is made of coarsely woven,
permeable fabric less than 1/2 inch in thickness.
Application Two earthen basins for a 1200-sow
facility were covered on this farm. An 8-inch
thick layer of straw was applied on the first
basin of a two-stage storage. Manure from the
straw-covered basin is typically land applied in
the fall. The second-stage basin was the source
of recycle water for recharging the shallow pits
in the farrowing building. This basin was
covered by a geotextile cover.
Advantages/Disadvantages Both types of covers
are considered effective odor control practices.
The geotextile cover has tended to sink over
winter and did not always resurface in the
spring. Styra-foam floats were added and appear
to have solved this problem. The fabric cover
makes agitation and pumpout difficult, although
Neal does not agitate and/or land-apply the
manure in this storage basin. Cost Geotextile
cover was estimated to cost 0.15 per square foot
(about 6,000 for a 200 x 200 earthen basin)
and to have a life of 3 to 5 years. The cover we
viewed was five years old. A new type of cover
consists of geotextile fabric and recycled rubber
products (sample shown in sixth slide in this
series). It costs 0.40 per square foot and was
expected to have a much longer life because of
the ultraviolet resistance of the materials.
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Dick Nicolai Farm, 1500-sow facility Odor
Control Technology Biofilter Treatment of
Building Exhaust Air.
Host Dick Nicolai, farm owner Principle
Ventilation fans force air through a 12 to 15
bed of compost and wood chips for biological
treatment. Aerobic bacteria remove odorous gases
and the filter bed removes dust from the exhaust
air. Application The first building was
constructed in 1997 with a biofilter consisting
of 50 compost and 50 wood chips. This material
was not as porous as desired and is due to be
changed soon. This biofilter treats all of the
exhaust air from the building. The second wing
of the overall facility was constructed in 2001
with a biofilter consisting of 70 wood chips and
30 compost. Exhaust air from the pit fans only
is passed through this biofilter, but the
building is set up so that approximately 50 of
maximum ventilation airflow (winter and spring
ventilation) is pulled through pit fans and
passed through the biofilter. The coarser mix of
materials seems to provide more uniform airflow
through the biofilter and places less resistance
on the exhaust fans. Advantages/Disadvantages
Very effective (about 90) odor reduction for
treated air is achieved. Bed design and overall
odor control depend on the amount of exhaust air
directed through the biofilter. The operator
must attend to three maintenance areas a)
biofilter moisture (water must be added, on a
daily basis during warm weather), b) rodent
control (well managed program is needed, but no
extraordinary practices are required), and c)
weed control (pesticide program is used to
control weed growth on the biofilter
media). Cost 0.50 to 0.80 per pig space
capital cost plus some increase in ventilation
costs and weed control costs.
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Biofilter
Organic Residue
Pallets
Dust
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Rodent hole
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Val Ad Co Farm, 8,000-head nursery and 8,000-head
finisher Odor Treatment Technology Negative
Pressure Lagoon Cover with Ozone Treatment of
Gases from Lagoon
Host Scott Refsland, manager for Val Ad
Co Principle Impermeable cover greatly
restricts movement of manure gases to the ambient
air above the cover, thereby reducing surface
emissions. Manure gases are continuously
collected and delivered for treatment by
ozonization, using the same principles as
described previously for building air.
Application Primary and secondary cells of an
anaerobic treatment lagoon are covered with an
impermeable, 16-mil (thickness) plastic cover.
Perforated drainage pipes are located at regular
intervals under the cover to collect gases
generated by the lagoon. A pump pulls these
gases from underneath the cover and directs them
through one of two ozone treatment systems.
Ozone treatment is shut down during winter
weather when gas production is very
low. Benefits Combination of lagoon cover and
ozone treatment should noticeably reduce the
emission of odors from the lagoon cells.
Hydrogen sulfide in the gas stream is reduced
from about 1,000 ppm to 200 ppm. Cost Cover
cost was 0.42 per square foot or about 0.80 per
pig (space or finished pig ???). Ozone treatment
capital and operating costs were not available.
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Val Ad Co Farm, 2,500-head sow facility.Odor
Treatment Technology Bio-curtain? and Windbreak
Wall
Host Scott Refsland, manager for Val Ad
Co Principle Dust is settled out of
fast-moving exhaust air using deflectors and a
re-circulation area (relatively dead air space),
removing odorous compounds in the process. Air
is exhausted upward, encouraging the air to move
above the roof line for better dilution with
fresh air and reduced odor potential at ground
level. Application Bio-curtain and windbreak
wall were installed just downwind of the exhaust
fans along the endwalls of adjacent
tunnel-ventilated buildings. Bio-curtain
utilizes two types of fabric and a configuration
designed to produce specific airflow patterns.
The windbreak wall observed at this site was
constructed of straw bales with wood and wire
framing. Other installations commonly suspend a
plastic membrane between stakes, poles or other
framing materials. Benefits Odor control
benefits are not easily measured and have not
been documented at this time. Smoke tests to
track ventilation air suggest that windbreak
walls should discourage odorous exhaust air from
remaining at ground level under most air
conditions, moving it instead to higher
elevations where rapid mixing and dilution with
fresh air is more likely. Cost Bio-curtain
cost 3,500 for 40-foot-wide building and 6,000
for 80-foot-wide building. Estimate of 1.50 per
pig space has been projected for windbreak walls
made of a plastic membrane.
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Windbreak Walls Made Using Tarps and EMT Conduit
Frames (type not seen during Odor Tour)
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Windbreak Walls

• Windbreak walls deflect exhaust air upward so it
  readily mixes with fresh air, diluting odors and
  gases (windbreak wall used with the left-hand
  building).

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Nicolet County Implementation of OFFSET tool in
making livestock-zoning-related decisions Odor
Treatment Technology Science-Based Policies and
Community Interaction in Setting Policies.
Host Tina Rosenstein, Nicolet County
Environmental Officer, and Kay Compact, pork
producer and Nicolet County zoning board
member. Principle Science-based tools
historically used for predicting air pollution
and radioactive plumes can be used for predicting
areas impacted by odors from livestock
facilities. The University of Minnesota has
developed a planning tool for livestock systems
that is designed to recommend desired setback
distances based upon the type of livestock
facility and/or manure storage facility, the size
of those facilities, odor-control practices
implemented, and the accepted level of
odor-annoyance-free hours. Application This
model has been implemented in Nicolet County for
conducting zoning reviews of proposed livestock
facilities. Benefits Setback distances are
based upon factors that are logical and
quantifiable risk of odor exposure, farm size
and type of livestock facilities, and level of
odor control practices implemented. The
science-based tool provides the producer with an
understandable target to meet for a new or
expanding facility, limits neighbor exposure to
odor, and eliminates much of the emotional public
discussion that often surrounds proposals for
constructing livestock facilities.
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Residences
Minnesota OFFSET Tool
95
No odor control Setback 0.45 mile With odor
control Setback 0.2 mile
Livestock facility
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Local Conditions Affect Odor Transport
East
Wind Rose for Eastern NE March August, 1990
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Potential to Base Setback on Local Conditions
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Setback distances vary with direction
Risk-Based Odor Footprint Tool with topography
and specific facility layout information
Livestock facility
MN OFFSET 95 Setback
Defining a Footprint in a Rural NE Community
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Potential to Base Setback on Local Conditions
Risk-Based Odor Footprint Tool with topography
and specific facility layout information
Defining a Footprint in a Rural NE Community