Gaseous Ammonia Emissions from a Poultry House in the Delaware Inland Bays Watershed

1. Diagram of Gas Scrubber Ogawa Passive Sampler Flow in To flowmeter and vacuum pump 1. End Cap 2. Stainless Steel Screen 3. Pre-coated Collection Pad (w/ citric acid) 4. Retainer Ring 5. Inner Base Pad 6. Sampler Body 2 mM H3PO4 ogawausa.com Gaseous Ammonia Emissions from a Poultry House in the Delaware Inland Bays Watershed Megan Roadman College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware Shared Resources Workshop on Ammonia - November 15-16, 2000 • Preliminary Results • Samplers have linear response to time, but reach a saturation point. Correlation of Passive Sampler to Gas Scrubber Abstract Ammonia emissions from poultry houses play an important role in the nitrogen budget for Delaware’s Inland Bays (DIB). Direct ammonia emissions from poultry production houses and post-production waste contribute to dry and wet deposition of nitrogen to the Watershed and Bays. Recent work by Scudlark (1999) indicates that ammonium wet deposition to the DIB account for ~35-40% of the total nitrogen deposition. Increased nitrogen levels may lead to increased algae growth and decreased health of the DIB. Ammonia levels in the house and the emission of ammonia from the house are important to both the poultry producer and surrounding inhabitants. High ammonia levels within the house are detrimental to the flock and may contribute to decreased growth rates. The Ogawa passive samplers are designed to measure low levels of ammonia, but had not been previously tested at the high levels found in poultry houses. The samplers are placed in and around the poultry house to estimate the levels of ammonia and to determine the flux of ammonia from a representative house. On-going research using the samplers has yielded ammonia levels from 350 mg/m3 - 4000 mg/m3 and 12 mg/m3 - 1000 mg/m3, inside and outside the house, respectively. The passive samplers are also being used to test the effectiveness of a forested buffer zone in minimizing ammonia transport away from the poultry house. The samplers are arrayed along a horizontal transect away from the house and into the forest buffer to determine the concentration gradient to be compared to the concentration gradients encountered in the absence of trees. Gas Scrubber (NH3 in mg/m3) Average Concentration (mM) Average (mM) deployment C Average (mM) deployment D Time (minutes) Passive Sampler (NH3 in mg/m3) • Chicken Facts • Sussex County, DE has the highest poultry production of any county in the United States • ~270 million birds per year • ~71 million birds per year in the Delaware Inland Bays Watershed • Delaware ranked 9th in U.S. production in 1999 • - 251 million birds per year • 1999 total value of production • - $507,420,000 • Growth period of chickens • - 7 weeks for broilers • - 8 weeks for roasters • Size when grown • - 5.6 pounds • Number of chickens in standard house • - around 13,000 • Some General Conclusions • The passive samplers are useful in the high ammonia levels found in poultry houses when deployed for less than three hours • The Ogawa samplers absorb ammonia at a linear rate within the first few hours until a saturation point is reached • A good correlation exists between the passive sampler and the gas scrubber method to measure ammonia at the higher levels in the environment • Future Work (Work in Progress) • Calculate the ammonia flux from a representative poultry house using previously gathered data using ammonia concentrations and an estimated ventilation rate. • Determine the effectiveness of a forested buffer in reducing gaseous ammonia fluxes away from poultry houses by comparing concentration gradients near two poultry houses - one with and one without a forest buffer zone. • Objectives • Determine usefulness of passive samplers for the determination of gaseous ammonia concentrations in high ammonia environments • Determine ammonia fluxes from poultry houses • Determine effectiveness of forested buffers in minimizing gaseous ammonia fluxes away from poultry houses. • Funding provided by: • US EPA CISNet Program (Nutrient Inputs as a Stressor and Net Nutrient Flux as an Indicator of Stress Response in Delaware’s Inland Bays Ecosystem), W. J. Ullman et al. • US EPA National Estuaries Program through a grant provided to the Center for the Inland Bays to Joseph Scudlark. • Special Thanks to George “Bud” Malone, University of Delaware Poultry Extension Specialist; Dr. Jack Meisinger and Charlotte Shomburg, USDA; and Dr. W. J. Ullman, Dr. Thomas M. Church and Joe Scudlark, College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware.