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Mitigating Ammonia Emission from Broiler

Houses using a Novel Biodegradable Litter
Amendment

Conference Paper · January 2012

DOI: 10.13031/2013.41878

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 An ASABE Meeting Presentation
Paper Number: 12-1338133

Mitigating Ammonia Emission from Broiler Houses using a Novel

Biodegradable Litter Amendment

S. N. Senyondo, Graduate Student

Biological Systems Engineering Department, Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA 24061
J. Arogo Ogejo, Associate Professor
Biological Systems Engineering Department, Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA 24061
R. S. Gates, Professor
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
F. W. Pierson, Professor and Hospital Director
Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA 24061
J. N. Walters, Graduate Student
College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA 24061

Written for presentation at the

2012 ASABE Annual International Meeting
Sponsored by ASABE
Hilton Anatole
Dallas, Texas
July 29 – August 1, 2012
Abstract. The emission of ammonia from commercial broiler production has generated such concerns
that air pollution controls may be required for the long term sustainability of the US broiler industry.
In this study, a new biodegradable litter amendment (BLA) with pH < 4, made by steam explosion of
corn cobs, was tested as a mitigation method for ammonia emissions from broiler litter. The objective
was to evaluate the effectiveness of BLA in controlling ammonia emitted from broiler houses. A pilot
scale test was conducted at the Virginia Tech Turkey Research Farm in Blacksburg, Virginia. Six

The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the
official position of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), and its printing and distribution does not
constitute an endorsement of views which may be expressed. Technical presentations are not subject to the formal peer review process by
ASABE editorial committees; therefore, they are not to be presented as refereed publications. Citation of this work should state that it is
from an ASABE meeting paper. EXAMPLE: Author's Last Name, Initials. 2011. Title of Presentation. ASABE Paper No. 11----. St. Joseph,
Mich.: ASABE. For information about securing permission to reprint or reproduce a technical presentation, please contact ASABE at
rutter@asabe.org or 269-932-7004 (2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 USA).
adjacent rooms each measuring 3.8m long by 3.6m wide and tapering in height from 3.3m at the inner
wall to 2.7m at the external wall, were selected from a building with 36 similar rooms. Each room
was ventilated using a separate exhaust fan and used to grow broilers at a stocking density of 0.065
m2 per bird.

Day old chicks were placed in each room at the beginning of a 42-d grow out period. The birds were
fed a normal basal diet of corn and soybean meal. A 3-phase feeding program based on age was used
and water was provided ad libitum. The birds were weighed four times over the growing period and
their foot pads were scored during harvesting. The first flock was grown on fresh kiln dried pine
shavings, after which the BLA treatment was randomly assigned to 3 rooms and the control the other
3 rooms. The litter was then reused to grow four additional flocks (flocks 2 – 5) with 5 to 10 days
between flocks. The room ventilation rate was determined through continuous monitoring of fan
activity (on/off) and static pressure difference across the fan. The exhaust air from the rooms was
sampled for ammonia concentration for 2-d each week from weeks 1-6, starting at four days of age to
determine the emission rate. Over three subsequent flocks the average ammonia emission rate from
the rooms with untreated litter (control) was at least 30% greater than rooms treated litter.

Keywords: Ammonia, broiler, biodegradable, litter amendment

The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the
official position of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), and its printing and distribution does not
constitute an endorsement of views which may be expressed. Technical presentations are not subject to the formal peer review process by
ASABE editorial committees; therefore, they are not to be presented as refereed publications. Citation of this work should state that it is
from an ASABE meeting paper. EXAMPLE: Author's Last Name, Initials. 2011. Title of Presentation. ASABE Paper No. 11----. St. Joseph,
Mich.: ASABE. For information about securing permission to reprint or reproduce a technical presentation, please contact ASABE at
rutter@asabe.org or 269-932-7004 (2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 USA).
Introduction

Poultry production the United States has increased by over 1400% in the last 50 years (The PEW
Group, 2011). This remarkable increase in production has followed a shift in the way the birds
are raised, with fewer highly integrated operations each typically producing more than 600,000
broilers per year (The PEW Group, 2011). The birds are raised on litter, which is used to grow
several flocks in order to control production costs. Manure accumulates in the litter and under
favorable conditions (moisture, pH, temperature) it is hydrolyzed to form ammonia and other
aerial pollutants. Ammonia from broiler production constitutes almost 15% of all emissions from
agriculture (EPA, 2004).

Previous studies have shown that ammonia released to the atmosphere has adverse
environmental effects (Barthelmie and Pryor 1998; Jaworski et al., 1997, Van Breemen et al.,
1982), and that ammonia can be detrimental to humans (Kim et al., 2005) and animals (Beker et
al., 2004; Cooper et al., 1987; Carlile (1984); Kling and Quarles, 1974). Controlling ammonia
emissions is therefore important for the long-term sustainability of commercial broiler
production. Broiler production facilities usually incorporate efforts to decrease ammonia
pollution because it affects bird performance. However, Federal laws require that they report
daily emissions greater than 45kg (100 lbs) (Pescatore et al., 2005).

Quantifying emissions is crucial for the selection and evaluation of mitigation technologies and
will be necessary for enforcement if/when air pollution regulations become applicable to Animal
Feeding Operations (AFOs). Determining emission rates of gaseous pollutants requires
knowledge of the ventilation rate (VR) and concentration of the pollutants in the exhaust from
the building (Gates et al., 2002; Moody et al., 2008). The pollutant concentration within the
building depends on the rate of production of the pollutant and the VR (Amaral et al., 2008).

Direct measurement would be ideal but measurement of emissions at individual broiler houses is
not always possible and often it is challenging and expensive (Gates et al., 2002). Monitoring
ammonia emissions from broiler houses is not an easy task due to the large variations in
emissions depending on time of day, type, age and number of birds (Burns et al., 2003, 2007;
Wheeler et al., 2006). There are also seasonal trends in exhaust ammonia concentration and
ventilation rates, which show highest ammonia concentrations occurring during the cold weather
when ventilation rates are lowest (Burns et al., 2007; Wheeler et al., 2006). Accurate assessment
of emissions from broiler houses therefore requires precise estimates of VR in addition to the
concentration of ammonia in the exhaust over an extended period of time that is representative of
production phases (Gates et al., 2002; Moody et al., 2008).

Mitigation of ammonia emissions from broiler houses can be effectively achieved using litter
amendments such as alum (Moore et al., 2000), Poultry GuardTM (Mc. Ward and Taylor, 2000),
PLTTM (Pope and Cherry, 2000) and zeolite (Amon et al., 1997), all of which typically control
pH, retain NH4+ and prevent volatilization of NH3. However, some amendments such as ferrous
sulfate are not recommended for use due to issues related to bird toxicity and their corrosive
nature (Shah et al., 2006). In order to address some of these concerns, researchers at Virginia
Tech developed a biodegradable litter amendment (BLA) from corn cobs (Agblevor et al., 2008)
using steam explosion in a thermo-mechano-chemical process described by Korbieh et al.,
(2011). During steam explosion, the corn cobs are broken down by the combined effects of heat
from steam, shear forces from expansion of moisture and hydrolysis of chemical bonds.
Laboratory testing on BLA showed that the material could effectively reduce odors and the
emission of ammonia from poultry litter (Korbieh et al., 2011). The objective of this study was to
evaluate the effectiveness of BLA in controlling ammonia emitted from broiler houses.

Materials and Methods

A pilot scale test was conducted at the Virginia Tech Turkey Research Farm in Blacksburg,
Virginia. Six adjacent rooms each measuring 3.8m long by 3.6m wide and tapering in height
from 3.3m at the inner wall to 2.7m at the external wall, were selected from a building with 36
similar rooms. Each room was ventilated using a separate 0.46m diameter, 230V exhaust fan
(Model V4E4011M601004E40Q, Multifan, Vostermans Ventilation Inc, Bloomington, IL) and
supplemental heat provided with a 115V heating unit (3UG73 Dayton, Garinger, Lake Forest,
IL). The switching mechanism of the fans was operated using timer and thermostat functions
with an environmental controller (Model ECS-2M, Varifan, Vostermans Ventilation Inc,
Bloomington, IL). Fresh air was provided via wall inlets from a common hallway in the building.
Maximum ventilation rate was 3,706m3/h at 20 Pa, or 20.6m3/h per bird for the stocking density
used in this study.

Ventilation rates were obtained by continuously monitoring room static pressure and fan
operational status in conjunction with performance curves developed in situ for each individual
fan. The fan performance curves were developed by measuring air velocity at 88 points in a
traverse across each fan using an anemometer (Testo 425, Testo GmbH & Co., Lenzkirch,
Germany) at 3 - 4 different inlet settings to provide different room static pressures which were
measured using differential pressure transducers (Model 264, Setra, Boxborough, MA).
Ammonia was measured with redundant electrochemical sensors (PAC III, Draeger Inc,
Pittsburgh, PA). Further details of the operation of the PMU are described by Xin et al. (2002),
Gates et al. (2005) and Amaral et al. (2007).

Five flocks of broilers were grown between March 2011 and January 2012. Groups of 180, day-
old mixed-sex chicks (Cobb-Hubbard cross) were placed in each room at the beginning of each
flock. The birds were fed a normal basal diet of corn and soybean meal from three tube feeders.
A 3-phase feeding program based on age for starters (0 to 18 days), growers (18 to 33 days) and
finisher (33 to 42 days) was used while water was provided ad libitum via nipple drinkers.
During the first five to seven days after the chicks were introduced the environmental controller
was set at approximately 32 oC and minimum ventilation timer at 30 seconds every three
minutes. As the birds grew, the thermostat setting was gradually lowered to reach 20 oC and the
timer increased to 100% duty cycle at the end of the flock. When the room temperature increased
beyond the thermostat setting the room fan ran continuously.

The first flock broilers was grown on fresh kiln-dried pine shavings while subsequent flocks
were grown on top dressed reused litter. The two treatments (control and BLA) were randomly
assigned to the six rooms after flock 1, so that litter in three rooms was treated with BLA while
litter in the other three rooms was left untreated. The BLA was applied at 0.05 kg/bird based on
manure with 1% nitrogen (ASABE 2010). Between flocks, the VR was controlled using a timer
at 60 seconds every three minutes for 5 to 10 days to prevent buildup of ammonia within the
rooms. During this period, the caked litter was removed and the amendment was typically
applied within 24 hours after the caked litter had been removed. All the rooms received a 2cm
top-dress of new shavings before the next flock of day old chicks was introduced usually within
1 to 2 days of applying the amendment. This was repeated for subsequent flocks and assignment
of treatments to rooms was maintained over flocks 2 to 5.

During each flock, room temperature and indoor relative humidity were continuously measured
and recorded at one minute intervals using stand alone data loggers (OM-EL-USB-2-LCD,
Omega Engineering, Stamford, CT). Litter temperature was measured at 1 minute intervals using
Hobo air/water/soil temperature (TMC6-HD, Onset Computer Corp, Cape Cod, MA) sensors and
recorded using HOBO U12 4-Channel External Data Loggers (U12-006, Onset Computer Corp,
Cape Cod, MA). The status of each fan was recorded using HOBO U9 Motor On/Off Data
Logger (U9-004, Onset Computer Corp, Cape Cod, MA) and bird mortality was recorded daily.
The exhaust air from the rooms was sampled and measured for ammonia and carbon dioxide
concentration using Pac III (Dräger , Pittsburgh, PA) and Model GMT222 (Vaisala, Vantaa,
Finland) sensors, respectively, located in the PMU, for 48 continuous hours once each week.
New electrochemical (EC) sensor heads were purchased at the beginning of the study and each
sensor was calibrated before and after each measurement period with 30ppm ammonia gas
certified ± 5% (Airgas, Radnor, PA) and the same cylinder of calibration gas was used for all
calibrations. The PMUs were configured to record data every 30s and samples were taken from
within the rooms for five minutes, followed by a twenty five minute purge with external air. This
cycling was repeated over the 48 hour period to prevent saturation of the Dräger Pac III sensors
from prolonged exposure to ammonia. Sampling was conducted for 2-d each week from weeks
1-6, starting at four days of age.

The average ammonia concentration was calculated using the middle three minutes of each
sampling interval and was assumed to be representative of the ammonia concentration in the
exhaust air from the room throughout the combined 30 minute (sample and purge) interval
(Amaral et al., 2008). Using motor logger data, the total duration (s) for which each fan was
running during every 30 minute interval was obtained. The VR was determined by matching
periods when the fan was running to the corresponding static pressure drop. The static pressure
difference over each fan-on time interval was then used to determine the ventilation rate using
fan performance curves. An average ventilation rate was determined for each 30 minute interval
and using equation 1 below from Wheeler et al., (2006), an emission rate for that period was
calculated based on the number of birds in the room during the measurement period.

(1)

where

ER = Emission rate (g/bird-30min)

VR = Ventilation rate (m3/s)
Wm = molar weight of NH3 (17.031 g mole−1)
Vm = molar volume of NH3 at standard temperature (0°C) and pressure (101.325 kPa)
(0.022414 m3 mole−1)
TStd = standard temperature (273.15 K)
Trm = absolute room temperature, (°C + 273.15) K
NH3 out = NH3 concentration in exhaust air (ppm)
NH3 in = NH3 concentration in inlet air (ppm). Assumed to be zero
time = Total fan run time over a 30 minute interval (s)
# Birds = Number of birds in the room
Pstd = Standard barometric pressure (101.325 kPa)
Pa = Atmospheric barometric pressure from Blacksburg weather station elevation (kPa)

The ER expressed in g/bird-day used in this analysis, was determined by summation of all the 30
minute values and dividing by two since the each measurement cycle was 48 hours. The
statistical model was a completely randomized design with each room as an experimental unit
and 3 replicates per treatment. The mean daily ERs from the rooms with treated litter were then
compared to those from rooms with untreated litter using One-way ANOVA at a significance
level of 0.05.

Results and Discussion

An example 48-hr profile of litter temperature, indoor temperature and relative humidity in one
room with treated litter and one room with untreated litter during flock 2 is shown in Figure 1.
During this period (June – July 2011) indoor temperatures steadily increased from a minimum of
approximately 28 ± 0.5 oC at 6am and peaked at 34 ± 0.5 oC around 6pm. The litter temperature
in both rooms however, remained fairly constant at around 23 ± 0.5 oC. Differences in
environmental conditions between the rooms were not significant for temperature and relative
humidity effects (p<0.05), thus differences in ERs could be attributed to other factors including
treatment effect and differences in VR.
Figure 1. Variation of litter temperature (oC), indoor temperature (oC) and relative indoor humidity (%) for two rooms
(Amendment and Control over a typical 48 hour measurement period
A summary of ER (Mean ± Standard Deviation) for each weekly measurement cycle for the
treatment and the controls during flocks 2 to 5 is shown in Table 1.The ERs from flocks 2 and 3
followed a somewhat similar trend increasing from week 1 to maximum during week 4 and
remaining fairly constant till the end of the flock. However, this trend was not observed during
flock 5, which showed a relatively linear decrease in ERs from beginning to end nor in flock 4
where ERs followed a nonlinear trend. Flock 4 ERs were substantially higher than other flocks
during week 1 (1.88 ±1.02 and 2.29 ±0.26 g/bird-day for treated and untreated litter,
respectively). The lowest ERs (0.45 ±0.24 and 0.96 ± 0.35g/bird-day) were observed during
week 3 while the maximum ERs (2.30 ±1.00 and 3.09 ±1.07g/bird-day) for treated and untreated
litter respectively, were observed at the end of the flock.

Table 1: Comparison of weekly ER (g/bird-day) from the control (CTL) to treatment

(BLA) over flocks 2-5
Flock/ Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Treatment
Flock 2 BLA 0.13 ±0.10 0.16 ±0.14 0.51 ±0.19 1.11 ±0.12 0.98 ±0.38 0.94 ±0.29
CTL 0.40 ±0.07 0.35 ±0.09 0.84 ±0.31 1.52 ±0.56 1.43 ±0.61 1.26 ±0.53
Flock 3 BLA 0.33 ±0.38 0.61 ±0.23 0.75 ±0.28 1.00 ±0.67 0.66 ±0.54 1.60 ±0.34
CTL 0.57 ±0.38 0.82 ±0.40 1.08 ±0.4 1.70 ±1.13 1.17 ±0.92 1.95 ±0.76
Flock 4 BLA 1.88 ±1.02 1.18 ±1.15 0.45 ±0.24 0.58 ±0.32 0.74 ±0.08 2.30 ±1.00
CTL 2.29 ±0.26 2.00 ±0.42 0.96 ±0.35 1.76 ±1.08 2.22 ±0.91 3.09 ±1.07
Flock 5 BLA 2.03 ±1.14 No Data 2.02 ±0.97 0.88 ±0.52 0.70 ±0.55 0.70 ±0.22
CTL 1.46 ±0.65 No Data 1.48 ±0.56 1.13 ±0.44 0.59 ±0.21 1.07 ±0.60

Figure 2 shows the relationship between ammonia emission rate (g/bird-day), ventilation rate
(m3/hr) and ammonia concentration (ppm) over the six measurement periods conducted during
flock 3 (Aug – Sept. 2011).
Figure 2. Variation of VR, NH3 concentration and ER (Mean ± Standard Error) over a single flock (Flock 3: Week 1 - 6)
grown on builtup litter (August 2011 – Sept. 2011)
An 80% decrease in ventilation rate during weeks 2 and 3 of flock 3 was shown to cause a
fivefold increase in room ammonia concentration. The highest ammonia concentration was
observed during this period but the ER continued to increase in a nearly linear manner over
subsequent measurement periods. Figure 2 emphasizes why using differences in room ammonia
concentrations alone without considering the ventilation rate is a flawed approach to assessing
the effectiveness of mitigation methods.

Table 2 compares the mean ER (± standard error) from this study to published data. It should be
noted that ERs in Table 2 were obtained using different assessment methods. Burns et al. (2007)
continuously monitored ammonia emissions from two commercial broiler houses over one year
including periods of downtime when there were no birds in houses and then attributed the total
emissions to the total number of birds that had been marketed. This is the recommended best
practice and most accurate assessment method for emissions from broiler houses (Gates et al.,
2002) but it is not always practical.

Table 2: Comparison of ammonia emission rates (g/bird-day) from this study to published
data
Source BLA Control Stocking Duration Bird
(g/bird-day) (g/bird-day) Density of Grow- weight
(b/m2) out (days) (kg)

This Study Flock 0.62 ± 0.20 0.97 ± 0.37 13.2 42 2.80

Flock 0.83 ± 0.41 1.12 ± 0.66 13.2 42 2.95
Flock 1.19 ± 0.64 2.05 ± 0.68 13.2 42 2.80
Flock 1.06 ± 0.21 0.96 ± 0.41 13.2 42 2.62
Burns et al., 2007 0.62 12.3 54 -
Wheeler et al., 0.65 14.7 42 2.20
Burns et al., 2003 0.92 16.1 42 2.30
Lacey et al., 2003 0.63 13.5 49 1.03
Siefert et al., 2004 1.18 20 42 -

The ER for each flock reported in table 2 for this study was obtained by multiplying the weekly
ERs from Table 1 (2-d of continuous monitoring) by the number of days between measurement
periods, (typically 5-7) and then dividing the total by the duration of the growing period (41 to
42-d). With the exception of flock 2 treated litter, the calculated ERs from this study are at least
30% higher than those Wheeler et al., (2006) and Lacey et al., (2003) for birds growing on
reused litter at similar stocking density for the same period of time. Ammonia emissions are
dependent on the type, size, barn environment and even activity level of the birds being grown.
“The average ER over a flock cycle also increases when birds are raised to greater weights, on
built-up litter, and/or at high stocking densities” (Wheeler et al., 2008). However, the birds in
this study were approximately 34% and 190% larger at the end of each growing period compared
to those from Wheeler et al. (2006) and Lacey et al. (2003) respectively.

Figure 3 shows the variation of ER, VR and ammonia concentration (average values) for rooms
with treated and untreated litter over flocks 2 - 5. Flock 4 had the highest ER was of 2.05g/bird-
day. The average emission rates from rooms that received BLA were 38%, 32% and 42% lower
than the controls for flocks 2, 3 and 4 respectively. However, during flock 5, a significantly
lower average ammonia concentration and higher ventilation rate for the treatments resulted in
an ER that was 10% higher than the controls although this difference was not significant.

Gates et al. (2008) suggested that a linear equation for the relation between ER and bird age
would give a better representation of ammonia emission rate over a growing period compared to
a single average value. Table 3 compares the ER (actual) from this study and regression
relationships developed by using these values and bird age with published data. The relatively
high R2 values (>0.70) agree with the study by Wheeler et al. (2008) that indicated that bird age
explains most of the variability in ER. Only data from flocks 2 and 3 that showed a linear trend
were used for comparison with published values. The slope of the regression line for ER vs. bird
age increased from 2 flock to flock 3 and was higher for untreated litter (from 0.034 to 0.039
g/bird-day-day) compared to treated litter (from 0.029 to 0.031 g/bird-day-day).
Figure 3. Variation of VR, NH3 concentration and ER (Mean ± Standard Error) over four flocks grown on builtup litter (June
2011 – January 2012)
Table 3: Comparison of ER and linear equation parameters for ER with published data
(flocks 2 and 3)
Source Day of age Slope Intercept R2
ER (g/bird-d) (g/bird-d-d) (g/bird-d)
This Study 7 20 42 60
Treated litter
Flock 2 0.13 0.51 0.94 0.029 - 0.019 0.822
Flock 3 0.32 0.75 1.60 0.031 0.159 0.692

Untreated litter
Flock 2 0.39 0.84 1.26 0.034 0.209 0.733
Flock 3 0.57 1.07 1.95 0.039 0.715 0.715

Wheeler et al. (2008)

Treated litter 0.22 0.60 1.25 1.78 0.0295 0.0121 0.66
Built-up litter 0.30 0.70 1.39 1.95 0.0311 0.0824 0.60

The regression lines for treated litter from flocks 2 and 3 have slopes comparable to those
reported by Wheeler et al (2008). Although the R2 values are higher, the intercepts from this
study are also substantially larger and might be attributed to differences in setup of the studies, or
differences in residual ammonia in the used litter from perhaps different ventilation schemes
between flocks. The 20 day ERs from the rooms with treated litter compare well with values
reported by Wheeler et al (2008). There are no 60-d ERs from this study because the duration of
the growing period was only 42-d. However, it is interesting to note that the 42 day ERs for the
rooms with untreated litter from flock 3 of this study are comparable to the 60-d ERs reported by
Wheeler et al. (2008). The birds in this study were approximately 21% larger at the end of the
growing period compared to those used in the study by Wheeler et al 2008 and this could be one
possible explanation for this difference.

Conclusion
Ammonia emissions were measured from a pilot scale broiler house which consisted of three
rooms each containing untreated or BLA treated litter. The BLA application rate of 0.05g/bird
was based on broilers weighing approximately 3kg at six weeks of age and is the same as that
suggested by Moore et al (2003) for alum. In addition to VR, environmental conditions within
the rooms including litter temperature, room temperature and indoor relative humidity, were
monitored to determine whether there were sources of variation in emission rates that beyond the
treatment effect. The average ammonia emissions from the rooms where litter was treated with
BLA 32% – 42 % lower than that from the rooms with untreated litter over flocks 2, 3 and 4.
Although the birds used for this study were generally much larger (2.8 – 2.9 kg) at the end of the
42-d growing period compared to those used in other studies, the 7 and 20 day ERs from the
rooms with treated litter from flocks 2 and 3 of this study are comparable to those in literature.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S.
Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2009-55112-05214.

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