Title: Biofilters to treat swine facility air: Part 1. Nitrogen mass balance
Abstract: Armeen, A., J.J.R. Feddes, J.J. Leonard and R.N. Coleman. 2008. Biofilters to treat swine facility air: Part 1. Nitrogen mass balance. Canadian Biosystems Engineering/Le genie des biosystemes au Canada 50: 6.21 6.27. Biofilters can be used to treat odours exhusted from animal facilities. The most important parameters for an efficient biofilter are pH, moisture content, temperature of the medium, available nutrients, contaminant load, and by-product removal. The main contaminants are volatile fatty acids (VFAs), N-containing compounds such as NH3, and sulfide containing compounds such as H2S. Based on the theory of biofiltration, compounds such as fatty acids will reduce to CO2 and H2O assuming an adequate retention time. Ammonia is a source of nutrients to the microorganisms; however it can reduce the performance of the biofilter with excessive accumulation of NH3, NH4 , nitrite, and nitrate. A nitrogen mass balance approach to biofilter performance is necessary for operating and designing the biofilter. A system of one bioscrubber and four biofilters was designed. This system operated with air containing 2, 22, 47, and 88 ppmv NH3 injected into the inlet air of the biofilters. The ammonia concentrations significantly (p<0.05) affected the elimination capacity (EC), removal efficiency (RE), and pH of the biofilters. The ECs of the biofilters for ammonia nitrogen with the above concentrations of ammonia were 11.6±2.6, 111±5.6, 183±10.9, and 242±21.8 g m d, respectively. Meanwhile, the combined total amounts of nitrite and nitrate nitrogen produced were 8.6±1.5, 42.1±3.9, 40.8±4, and 31.9±5 g m d, respectively. The daily accumulations of NH3-N + NH4 -N in the biofilters were 3.4±2.9, 70.6±5.9, 143.4±10.5, and 211.6±21.5 g m d, respectively. The N mass balance showed how much leachate must be removed to maintain acceptable nitrate/nitrite concentrations in the medium for optimum microbial activity.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 9
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