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Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today’s academic and industry professionals are increasingly asked to address “wicked” challenges such as those at the nexus of air quality, animal production systems, technology, environment, and sustainability. Livestock odor is an example of a “wicked”, hard-to-solve problem that is often thought to be too complex to handle and unique to every case. Response to odor is often a symptom of another problem and an opening to a larger set of underlying problems. Politics, regulations, and social and economic issues mingle with ‘hard’ engineering and science interconnected with animal production. Many promising, discovery-stage technologies for mitigation are not yet farm-scale proven. Some technologies are simply too expensive or complex. A unique opportunity lies in a paradigm shift from odor solving being a low priority, expense-only activity to being a value-adding activity. This Topical Collection aims to publish reviews, articles, and short communications that bring different perspectives on solving livestock odor issues in lab-, pilot-, and farm-proven scales. This Topical Collection ‘’Livestock Odor Issues and Air Quality’’ will encourage multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary views, comprehensive assessments, socioeconomic analyses, and case studies illustrating the current state-of-the art and informing on-going discussions on how to solve the livestock odor problem.

Prof. Dr. Jacek Koziel
Collection Editor

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Keywords

livestock odor
air quality
measurements and mitigation
dispersion modeling
photochemistry of odor
treatment technologies
waste management
environmental regulations
socioeconomic analysis
community odor management
sustainable agriculture

Published Papers (2 papers)

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2021

Open AccessArticle

Mitigation of Odor and Gaseous Emissions from Swine Barn with UV-A and UV-C Photocatalysis

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Atmosphere 2021, 12(5), 585; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12050585 - 01 May 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2423

Abstract

UV-A (ca. 365 nm wavelength, a.k.a. ‘black light’) photocatalysis has been investigated to comprehensively mitigate odor and selected air pollutants in the livestock environment. This study was conducted to confirm the performance of UV-A photocatalysis on the swine farm. The objectives of this research were to (1) scale-up of the UV-A photocatalysis treatment, (2) evaluate the mitigation of odorous gases from swine slurry pit, (3) test different UV sources, (4) evaluate the effect of particulate matter (PM) and (5) conduct preliminary economic analyses. We tested UV-A photocatalysis at a mobile laboratory-scale capable of treating ~0.2–0.8 m³·s⁻¹ of barn exhaust air. The targeted gaseous emissions of barn exhaust air were significantly mitigated (p < 0.05) up to 40% reduction of measured odor; 63%, 44%, 32%, 40%, 66% and 49% reduction of dimethyl disulfide, isobutyric acid, butanoic acid, p-cresol, indole and skatole, respectively; 40% reduction of H₂S; 100% reduction of O₃; and 13% reduction of N₂O. The PM mitigation effect was not significant. Formaldehyde levels did not change, and a 21% generation of CO₂ was observed. The percent reduction of targeted gases decreased as the airborne PM increased. Simultaneous chemical and sensory analysis confirmed that UV-A treatment changed the overall nuisance odor character of swine barn emissions into weaker manure odor with ‘toothpaste and ‘mint’ notes. The smell of benzoic acid generated in UV-A treatment was likely one of the compounds responsible for the less-offensive overall odor character of the UV-treated emissions. Results are needed to inform the design of a farm-scale trial, where the interior barn walls can be treated with the photocatalyst. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of a Novel Poultry Litter Amendment on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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Atmosphere 2021, 12(5), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12050563 - 28 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1638

Abstract

Gaseous emissions from poultry litter causes production problems for producers as well as the environment, by contributing to climate change and reducing air quality. Novel methods of reducing ammonia (NH₃) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in poultry facilities are needed. As such, our research evaluated GHG emissions over a 42 d period. Three separate flocks of 1000 broilers were used for this study. The first flock was used only to produce litter needed for the experiment. The second and third flocks were allocated to 20 pens in a randomized block design with four replicated of five treatments. The management practices studied included an unamended control; a conventional practice of incorporating aluminum sulfate (referred to as alum) at 98 kg/100 m²); a novel litter amendment made from alum mud, bauxite, and sulfuric acid (alum mud litter amendment, AMLA) applied at different rates (49 and 98 kg/100 m²) and methods (surface applied or incorporated). Nitrous oxide emissions were low for all treatments in flocks 2 and 3 (0.40 and 0.37 mg m² hr⁻¹, respectively). The formation of caked litter (due to excessive moisture) during day 35 and 42 caused high variability in CH₄ and CO₂ emissions. Alum mud litter amendment and alum did not significantly affect GHGs emissions from litter, regardless of the amendment rate or application method. In fact, litter amendments such as alum and AMLA typically lower GHG emissions from poultry facilities by reducing ventilation requirements to maintain air quality in cooler months due to lower NH₃ levels, resulting in less propane use and concomitant reductions in CO₂ emissions. Full article

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Published Papers (2 papers)

2021

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