TECHNICAL REPORTS
Atmospheric Pollutants and Trace Gases
Odor and Gas Release from Anaerobic Treatment Lagoons for Swine Manure
Teng-Teeh Lim, Albert J. Heber,* Ji-Qin Ni, Alan L. Sutton, and Ping Shao
ABSTRACT
Odor and gas release from anaerobic lagoons for treating swine
waste affect air quality in neighboring communities but rates of release
are not well documented. A buoyant convective flux chamber (BCFC)
was used to determine the effect of lagoon loading rate on measured
odor and gas releases from two primary lagoons at a simulated wind
speed of 1.0 m s⫺1. Concentrations of ammonia (NH3), hydrogen
sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitric
oxide (NO) in 50-L air samples were measured. A panel of human
subjects, whose sensitivity was verified with a certified reference odor-
ant, evaluated odor concentration, intensity, and hedonic tone. Geo-
metric mean odor concentrations of BCFC inlet and outlet samples
and of downwind berm samples were 168 ⫾ 44 (mean ⫾ 95% confi-
dence interval), 262 ⫾ 60, and 114 ⫾ 38 OUE m⫺3 (OUE, European
odor unit, equivalent to 123 ␮g n-butanol), respectively. The overall
geometric mean odor release was 2.3 ⫾ 1.5 OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 (1.5 ⫾ 0.9
OU s⫺1 m⫺2). The live mass specific geometric mean odor release was
13.5 OUE s⫺1 AU⫺1 (animal unit ⫽ 500 kg live body mass). Overall
mean NH3, H2S, CO2 and SO2 releases were 101 ⫾ 24, 5.7 ⫾ 2.0, 852 ⫾
307, and 0.5 ⫾ 0.4 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2, respectively. Nitric oxide was not
detected. Odor concentrations were directly proportional to H2S and
CO2 concentrations and odor intensity, and inversely proportional to
hedonic tone and SO2 concentration (P ⬍ 0.05). Releases of NH3,
H2S, and CO2 were directly proportional (P ⬍ 0.05) to volatile solids
loading rate (VSLR).
L ivestock operations in the USA have become larger
and more concentrated due to economic factors.
Public concerns regarding air, water, and soil pollution
have accompanied the increase in size of production
facilities. To address these public concerns, baseline ae-
rial pollutant emissions from typical manure storage and
treatment facilities are needed to assess the magnitude
of air pollution and effectiveness of pollution abatement
technologies such as aeration, solids separation, and
covers (Ritter, 1989; Zhang et al., 1996).
Measurements of the character and quantity of odor
T.-T. Lim, A.J. Heber, J.-Q. Ni, and P. Shao, Agricultural and Biologi-
cal Engineering Dep., and A.L. Sutton, Animal Sciences Dep., Purdue
Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907. Contribution no. 16556 from the
Purdue University Agricultural Research Program. Mention of spe-
cific equipment is for the benefit of readers and does not infer endorse-
ment or preferential treatment of the product names by the authors.
Received 20 Nov. 2001. *Corresponding author (heber@purdue.edu).
Published in J. Environ. Qual. 32:406–416 (2003).
406
releases are also needed to evaluate odor effects through
science-based setback models (Lim et al., 2000). Odor
is evaluated by determining odor concentration (OC),
intensity, and hedonic tone (HT) (Lim et al., 2001). An
odor unit (OU) is defined as the amount of odorant(s)
in 1.0 m3 of odorous gas at the panel odor detection
concentration (European Committee for Standardiza-
tion, 2002) and OC is defined in terms of OU m⫺3. An
odor emission rate (OU s⫺1) results when OC is mul-
tiplied by volumetric airflow rate in m3 s⫺1 (Heber et
al., 2002).
Anaerobic treatment systems (lagoons) are used
widely for practical treatment and storage of swine ma-
nure (National Engineering Handbook, 1999; Wester-
man et al., 1990). Lagoons are typically earthen basins,
and rely on bacteria to stabilize organic material (Pork
Industry Handbook, 1998). Lagoons are relatively sim-
ple to operate and maintain, and are relatively inexpen-
sive compared with other treatment methods (American
Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1997). Lagoons be-
come more odorous when overloaded due to sludge
buildups, infrequent additions of large amounts of ma-
nure, and cold weather (Ritter, 1989).
The traditional wisdom of agricultural engineers has
been that a properly designed and operated anaerobic
lagoon will have minimal odor problems, except in
spring when lagoon temperature rises and bacterial ac-
tion increases (Hamilton and Cumba, 2000). However,
all lagoons generate some odor; the quantity has not
been well documented (Heber et al., 2002). Lagoon odor
can be reduced by maintaining adequate dilution and
improving loading uniformity by introducing smaller
amounts of manure more frequently. Anaerobic lagoons
are designed on the basis of volatile solids loading rate
(VSLR) (National Engineering Handbook, 1999). The
acceptable VSLR varies from one location to another
since the rate of solids decomposition in anaerobic la-
goons is a function of temperature.
Abbreviations: AU, animal unit; BCFC, buoyant convective flux
chamber; BIW, equivalent concentration of n-butanol in water; DT,
dilutions to threshold; HT, hedonic tone; OC, odor concentration;
OCE, odor concentration normalized to European odor units; ODCb,
odor detection concentration of n-butanol gas; OU, odor unit; OUE,
European odor unit, equivalent to 123 ␮g of n-butanol; VSLR, volatile
solids loading rate.
 LIM ET AL.: ODOR AND GAS RELEASE FROM ANAEROBIC TREATMENT LAGOONS 407

The design VSLR for anaerobic lagoons located in ricultural and municipal wastewaters rely on H2S con-
southern Indiana and Illinois is 76.1 g d⫺1 m⫺3, 64.1 g centration to surrogatively represent odor strength, be-
d⫺1 m⫺3, and 72.1 g d⫺1 m⫺3 according to the Midwest cause H2S is typically an important component of
Plan Service (2000), American Society of Agricultural malodors. Also, H2S measurements are easier, more
Engineers (1997), and the National Engineering Hand- reproducible, and less expensive than olfactometry.
book (1999), respectively. Sensory-based determina- Stuetz et al. (1999) concluded that, although H2S corre-
tions of lagoon odor release as affected by VSLR would lates better to odor than other compounds, the correla-
be helpful in guiding design and management of lagoons, tion is weak.
but such measurements are lacking. The objectives of this research project were to (i)
Several methods of measuring odor and gas release determine releases of odor, NH3, H2S, CO2, SO2, and
from surfaces have been described in previous literature NO from the first stage of anaerobic treatment systems
(Lindvall et al., 1974; Smith and Watts, 1994; Jiang et al., for swine, and (ii) evaluate effects of lagoon loading
1995; Schmidt et al., 1999). A convective flux chamber rates and slurry characteristics on releases of odor, NH3,
(CFC) is an open-bottom enclosure placed over emitting H2S, CO2, SO2, and NO.
surfaces, with ambient or filtered air blown or drawn
through it to mix and transport gases away from the MATERIALS AND METHODS
emitting surface. Concentrations of both incoming and
outgoing air streams should be measured when ambient Lagoons
air is used (Smith and Watts, 1994). Release of NH3 was Some characteristics and design specifications of the two
calculated as the product of the difference between inlet anaerobic swine lagoons selected for this study are given in
and outlet air concentrations and the volume of air Table 1. The lagoons treated waste from breed-to-wean facili-
passing through a modified Lindvall CFC (Misselbrook ties that were owned and operated by the same company and
et al., 1998). A CFC was also used to evaluate odor and were located in the same climate zone. Each lagoon was the
H2S release from manure storages and feedlots (Schmidt first cell of a two-stage anaerobic lagoon system. Lagoon A
had 7.1 times more total manure input (lagoon loading), but
et al., 1999). Concentrations in the CFC exhaust air
it was only 2.7 times larger than Lagoon B, thus Lagoon A
were measured and releases were calculated based on had 16.6 m3 AU⫺1 as compared with 41.7 m3 AU⫺1 for Lagoon
simulated bulk wind speeds that ranged from 0.19 to B. The VSLRs were therefore 63.7 and 24.5 g d⫺1 m⫺3 for
1.14 m s⫺1. Using the same CFC, odor samples were Lagoons A and B, respectively. This large difference provided
collected at 19 animal manure storage sites by Jacobson an opportunity to study the effect of loading rate on odor and
et al. (1999) during spring, summer, and fall. Hydrogen gas release.
sulfide (H2S) and OCs were measured with an electro- Manure of each pit was drained into Lagoon A every two
chemical sensor and a dynamic olfactometer, respec- weeks. Since it treated manure from 14 pits, Lagoon A re-
tively. ceived fresh manure every day. The loading of Lagoon B was
A BCFC was used to measure seasonal release of more uniform than Lagoon A since each pit in the buildings
was flushed every 4 to 6 h.
atmospheric ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N) from an anaer-
obic swine lagoon during different seasons (Aneja et
Buoyant Convective Flux Chamber
al., 2000). The BCFC was placed at randomly selected
locations and compressed zero-grade air was pumped The BCFC (Heber et al., 2002) covered 0.74 m2 of lagoon
through the BCFC at constant flow. surface over which air was blown at approximately 1 m s⫺1.
Hobbs et al. (1998) designed and constructed a labo- The BCFC was surrounded by rigid waterproof insulation to
ratory CFC to measure odor and gas release from 200 L cause enough buoyancy to keep the top 0.17 m of the BCFC
floating above water. The inside walls and ceiling were lined
of stirred slurry samples under controlled conditions
and a wind speed of 4 m s⫺1. Gaseous compounds were Table 1. Lagoon and building characteristics.
measured with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, Parameter Lagoon A Lagoon B
and odor concentration was evaluated with a dynamic
Building manure collection system
olfactometer. The most dominant odor compounds ob-
Manure collection type underfloor pits flush†
served belonged to the sulfide, volatile fatty acid, pheno- Manure removal interval 2 wk 4–6 h
lic, and indolic chemical groups. The mean odor release Lagoon loading
from the stirred slurry samples (surface area ⫽ 1.0 m2, Number of pigs 20 000 2 900
wind speed ⫽ 4.0 m s⫺1) was 1.35 ⫻ 106 OU min⫺1 Total animal units‡, AU 8 636 1 252
Fresh manure input§, kg d⫺1 1.39 ⫻ 105 1.96 ⫻ 104
(2.25 ⫻ 104 OU s⫺1 m⫺2). VSLR§, g m⫺ d⫺3 1
63.7 24.5
A new BCFC was designed, constructed, and tested Lagoon design specifications
at Purdue University (Heber et al., 2002). Repeatable Type first cell first cell
odor and gas release measurements with the BCFC were Location southeastern southwestern
demonstrated based on laboratory and field tests. Odor Illinois Indiana
Liquid surface area, m2 30 735 12 310
release from a 2.4-m-deep primary anaerobic lagoon, Liquid volume, m3 1.44 ⫻ 105 5.23 ⫻ 104
with the top layer surface-aerated, was measured at a † Flushed with effluent from secondary lagoon.
6000-head swine finishing facility (Heber et al., 2002). ‡ Calculated based on the average pig weight of 215 kg for both gestating
Odor release measured at the lagoon was 1.7 OU s⫺1 and farrowing sows. Information was provided by the producer.
§ Based on published manure production rate of 3.4 kg d⫺1 for a 125-kg
m⫺2 with a simulated wind speed of 1.1 m s⫺1. gestating sow (Midwest Plan Service, 2000) and linear relationship with
Some methods for assessing odor emitted from ag- pig mass.
408 J. ENVIRON. QUAL., VOL. 32, MARCH–APRIL 2003
Fig. 1. Buoyant convective flux chamber showing hairpin path for
airflow.
with stainless steel (Fig. 1). Air followed a 0.31-m-wide, hori-
zontal, hairpin path and the total length of the airflow path
across the exposed liquid surface was 2.4 m.
An air supply unit consisting of a variable speed blower
(powered by a portable generator) and a dust filtering and
gas absorption system was placed on the lagoon berm (Fig. 2).
Odor was removed with adsorbent media consisting of char-
coal, permanganate, and zeolite encased in a 22.4-kg module
(CPZ Module #31005, Honeywell Commercial Air Products,
Niceville, FL). It had a single-pass odor removal efficiency of
85%, according to the manufacturer. A 0.15-m-diameter, 9.75-
m-long air supply duct consisted of a 6.1-m-long stainless steel
section and a 3.65-m-long flexible Teflon section, and was
used to convey filtered air to the BCFC. The air supply duct
was supported by three 3.2- ⫻ 3.2- ⫻ 0.32-cm aluminum chan-
nels that were buoyed by three 19-L polyethylene containers.
The aluminum channels were also used as raceways for gas
sampling tubes and thermocouple wires. The BCFC was held
Fig. 2. Air sampling on lagoon with the buoyant convective flux cham-
ber (BCFC).
stationary in the lagoon with berm-anchored channels and
two lengths of berm-anchored nylon rope attached to the sides
of the BCFC.
Sampling and Measurement Procedure
Six sampling visits were made to each lagoon; between 24
Apr. and 27 July 2000 at Lagoon A and between 4 May and 25
July 2000 at Lagoon B. The following samples were collected
during each sampling visit (unless stated otherwise):
• BCFC air samples (four inlet–outlet pairs) at two loca-
tions on the lagoon.
• Two air samples at the downwind berm.
• One effluent sample taken near the lagoon surface.
• Lagoon influent samples taken once in spring and once
in summer.
Air samples at the BCFC inlet and outlet were simultane-
ously drawn into chemically inert 50-L polyvinyl fluoride
(Tedlar) bags through Teflon tubing. A small diaphragm pump
(AirPro Model 6000D; BIOS International, Butler, NJ) evacu-
ated air from a 114-L rigid drum causing an initially collapsed
bag inside the drum to inflate in about 10 min at an airflow
rate of 5 L min⫺1. Negative pressure in the drum caused air
to enter the sampling bag directly without flowing through
the pump. Inside surfaces of the BCFC were cleaned with
alcohol between visits. Air sampling tubes were flushed be-
tween visits with compressed air or nitrogen (N2) to purge the
tubes of residual odor.
Air entering the BCFC was sampled because the gas absorp-
tion device could not remove 100% of the ambient odor on
a single pass, and there may have been some odors released
from the surfaces of air supply ducts. To minimize contamina-
tion of the air transport system, the air supply unit was placed
upwind of the lagoon and as far away as possible from exhaust
fans of nearby swine buildings. Two downwind air samples
were simultaneously collected at the downwind berm, about
1.0 m laterally from the edge of the lagoon, and at a height
of 1.0 m above the top of the berm. Air samples at the berm
provided a general indication of ambient air quality near the
lagoon and were compared with measured background con-
centrations (BCFC inlet samples).
Sampling bags were either new or reused once. New bags,
preflushed once with compressed air or N2, were used for
sampling visits A1, A2, A5, B1, B4, and B5. These bags were
reused for subsequent visits after being filled and flushed at
least three times. The BCFC was operated at least 10 min
before collecting odor samples. Each bag was preconditioned
by filling it to about one-quarter capacity with sample air and
emptying it before collecting the actual sample. The sampled
bags were immediately inserted into 76-␮m-thick black plastic
bags, and placed into an opaque plastic tub to minimize expo-
sure to sunlight and sudden temperature changes. Enough
space between the bags was always allowed during transport
to prevent mechanical damage.
Effluent samples were collected from four or five locations
along the lagoon edges. Samples were obtained by lowering
a sampling probe (a 600-mL plastic bucket attached to a 1.9-
cm-diameter, 2-m-long PVC pipe) into the lagoon from the
shore. Influent samples were collected either from the build-
ings or directly at the pipe inlets to the lagoons during flushing.
Samples of each type were poured into a bucket and thor-
oughly mixed. A subsample of each mix was collected and
stored in a sealed 237-mL plastic bottle, placed in a Styrofoam
container with ice, and transported to the laboratory.
Air temperature was measured by locating a thermocouple
at the BCFC outlet air sampling point. Lagoon temperature
 LIM ET AL.: ODOR AND GAS RELEASE FROM ANAEROBIC TREATMENT LAGOONS
was measured at about 5 cm below the water surface by at-
taching a thermocouple to the lower edge of the BCFC. Both
temperature readings were recorded during collection of
each sample.
Odor Evaluation
The odor dilution to threshold (DT) of an air sample is the
dilution factor required to reduce its concentration to that
which cannot be distinguished from odorless air by 50% of
an odor panel (Heber et al., 2002). Odor DTs were measured
with a dynamic dilution forced-choice olfactometer (AC’-
SCENT International Olfactometer; St. Croix Sensory, Lake
Elmo, MN) and an odor panel consisting of eight trained
human subjects (American Society for Testing and Materials,
1981; Lim et al., 2001). The olfactometer delivered a precise
mixture of sample and dilution air to the active subject through
a Teflon-coated presentation mask at a flow rate of 20 L min⫺1.
The dilution factor of the mixture was defined as the ratio of
total diluted sample flow volume to the odor sample flow
volume. Olfactometer airflow rates were calibrated before and
after each odor evaluation session with a precision airflow
calibration device (GILIBRATOR-2; Sensidyne, Clearwa-
ter, FL).
The olfactometer presented an ascending series of concen-
trations (step factor ⫽ 2) to each subject starting with an
extremely high dilution factor. The subject sniffed three se-
quential sample coded gas streams at each dilution factor,
with only one gas stream randomly assigned to have the odor.
The subject selected the presentation that was “different” and
suspected to contain the odor (American Society for Testing
and Materials, 1991), and declared whether the selection was
a “guess” (no perceived difference), “detection” (selection
was different from the other two), or “recognition” (selection
smelled like something). Lower and lower sample dilutions
(50% reductions) were presented to each subject until the
sample was correctly detected and recognized.
An individual best-estimate DT was calculated by taking
the geometric mean of the last nondetectable dilution factor
and the first detectable dilution factor. Retrospective screen-
ing of extraneous individual DTs was applied to the panel
DT, which was calculated as the geometric mean of individual
DTs. Odor concentration (OU m⫺3) was numerically equiva-
lent to the panel DT. All averages of odor concentrations
and releases were reported as geometric means because they
typically exhibit lognormal distributions (European Commit-
tee for Standardization, 2002).
To assess subject performance, a reference odorant (40–58
␮L L⫺1 n-butanol in nitrogen) was evaluated identical to other
samples during each odor session. In accordance with the EN
13725 standard (European Committee for Standardization,
2002), the evaluations were used to assess subject performance
by calculating odor detection concentration (ODC) of the
n-butanol, which is the concentration at the detection thresh-
old. The n-butanol ODC of each panel was therefore calcu-
lated with Eq. [1]:
ODCb ⫽ 1000Cb/DTb [1]
where ODCb is the odor detection concentration of n-butanol
gas (nL L⫺1), Cb is the concentration of n-butanol gas (␮L
L⫺1), and DTb is the odor DT of the n-butanol sample.
The European standard requires the mean ODCb of the
last 12 samples to be between 20 and 80 nL L⫺1, and a log
standard deviation that is smaller than 2.3, for each subject.
Most European olfactometry laboratories follow this n-buta-
nol performance criterion to achieve more accurate and re-
peatable measurements (Sneath and Clarkson, 2000). How-
409
Table 2. Reference scale for intensity evaluations.
n-Butanol in water Odor intensity categories
Reference
scale (I†) BIW‡ log BIW Strength Annoyance
␮L L⫺1
1 250 2.40 very faint not annoying
2 750 2.88 faint a little annoying
3 2 250 3.35 moderate annoying
4 6 750 3.83 strong very annoying
5 20 250 4.31 very strong extremely annoying
† Odor intensity.
‡ Equivalent concentration of n-butanol in water.
ever, most U.S. laboratories have not typically used reference
odorants since U.S. standards do not require them.
Since an n-butanol sample of known concentration was
analyzed for each odor session in this study, a corrected odor
concentration was determined based on panel sensitivity.
Given that one European odor unit (OUE) ⫽ 123 ␮g n-butanol,
and 1.0 OUE m⫺3 ⫽ 40 nL L⫺1 (European Committee for
Standardization, 2002), a normalized OC (OCE) was calculated
with Eq. [2]:
OCE ⫽ (DT ⫻ ODCb)/40 [2]
where DT is the odor dilutions to threshold. For example, the
OCE of samples evaluated during a session with a panel ODCb
of 80 nL L⫺1 would be twice their OC values.
Odor intensity is the relative perceived psychological
strength of an odor at a suprathreshold concentration (McGin-
ley and McGinley, 2000). Odor intensity grows as a power
function of the stimulus odor (Stevens, 1957) and follows
Eq. [3]:
I ⫽ kCn [3]
where I is odor intensity expressed as equivalent concentration
of n-butanol in water (␮L L⫺1 BIW), C is the concentration
of the odorant in ␮L L⫺1, and k and n are odorant-specific con-
stants.
Standardized n-butanol solutions were used to generate a
static odor reference scale (American Society for Testing and
Materials, 1999) (Table 2). The static reference scale consisted
of five concentrations of n-butanol in water with a geometric
interval (3x series progression) between each value. A small
glass funnel was used to present the sampled air to a subject
while the bag was compressed. Each subject judged the inten-
sity of a sample by objectively matching it to the intensities
of the known n-butanol concentrations (American Society for
Testing and Materials, 1999). The results were reported as
equivalent concentrations of n-butanol in water (␮L L⫺1 BIW).
Hedonic tone (HT) is the degree to which an odor is subjec-
tively perceived as pleasant or unpleasant (McGinley et al.,
2000) and has the closest relationship to odor annoyance than
any other odor parameter. The perceptions of HT vary widely
among people and are strongly influenced by individual odor
experience, personal odor preference, and the emotional con-
text in which odor is perceived. The HT was subjectively rated
from ⫺10 (extremely offensive) to 0 (neither pleasant nor
offensive) to ⫹10 (extremely pleasant). The panel HT of a
sample was calculated as the arithmetic mean of individual
HT values.
Measurement of Gas Concentrations
Concentrations of CO2, H2S, SO2, NH3, and NO were mea-
sured in each air sample with gas analyzers described in Table 3
and used in previous studies (Heber et al., 2001). Each analyzer
was calibrated twice weekly with certified calibration gases.
410 J. ENVIRON. QUAL., VOL. 32, MARCH–APRIL 2003
Table 3. Specifications of gas analyzers.
Gas Analyzer Sensor type
CO2 MSA† 3600 photoacoustic infrared
H2S TEI‡ Models 340/45 pulsed fluorescence
SO2 TEI Model 45 pulsed fluorescence
NH3 TEI Models 17/17C chemiluminescence
NO TEI Model 17 chemiluminescence
† Mine Safety Appliances Company, Pittsburgh, PA.
‡ Thermo Environmental Instruments, Franklin, MA.
During concentration measurements, a sample bag was
attached to the inlet of a sampling manifold, to which the
analyzers were connected in parallel. Measurement durations
of each sample were between 6 and 20 min, and gas concentra-
tions were recorded on stabilization of analyzer outputs.
Calculation of Odor and Gas Releases
The release of a gaseous pollutant was determined by multi-
plying BCFC airflow rate by the concentration difference be-
tween the BCFC inlet and outlet. The BCFC airflow rate was
determined by the cross-sectional area of the hairpin path
above the water surface and the constant surface air velocity
of 1 m s⫺1 as measured with a hot-wire anemometer (Heber
et al., 2002). The release, E, was the transfer of odor or gases
from the liquid surface into the atmosphere. It was calculated
by dividing the BCFC emission rate by the area covered, AS
(0.74 m2):
E ⫽ [Q(CO ⫺ CI)]/AS [4]
where Q is the volumetric rate of air flow through the BCFC,
CO is the concentration of outlet air, and CI is the concentration
of inlet air.
The average odor release of a sampling visit was the geomet-
ric mean of four individual release measurements. The individ-
ual odor release was arbitrarily set equal to 0.1 OU s⫺1 m⫺2
when a negative or zero BCFC release was calculated because
of an inlet concentration that was greater than or equal to the
outlet concentration. The 0.1 value was used to facilitate the
calculation of geometric mean values, since zero or negative
values cannot be included in geometric mean calculations.
Negative or zero releases of major gases were not adjusted.
Analysis of Lagoon Influent and Effluent Samples
Using standard methods, lagoon influent and effluent sam-
ples were analyzed for pH, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia-
cal nitrogen (NH4–N), total solids, and volatile solids. Total
Kjeldahl N was determined by the micro-Kjeldahl nitrogen
method of Nelson and Sommers (1972), and NH4–N was deter-
mined with the steam distillation method of Bremner and
Keeney (1965). The total solids content was analyzed gravi-
metrically at 90⬚C. Volatile fatty acid determinations were
conducted with gas chromatographic methods described by
Playne (1985). In this procedure 8 g of manure sample was
mixed with 2 mL of 25% metaphosphoric acid and incubated
at a room temperature for 30 min. The samples were centri-
fuged at 12 100 ⫻ g at 4⬚C for 10 min in a centrifuge with a
JA-20 rotor (Model J-21C; Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA).
The supernatants were drawn off by pipette and frozen for a
minimum of 24 h before being passed through a 25-mm, 0.2-
␮m membrane filter (Supor-200; Pall Corporation, Port Wash-
ington, NY). One microliter of the filtered samples was in-
jected into the gas chromatograph (Model 3700; Varian, Palo
Alto, CA) for determination of volatile fatty acids with an
Precision Range Span gas
␮L L⫺1
⫾1% 0–5000 3990
⫾1 nL L⫺1 0–20 16.5
⫾1 nL L⫺1 0–20 2.7
⫾0.5% 0–200 165
⫾0.5% 0–200 23.4
oven temperature of 155⬚C and injector and detector tempera-
tures of 200⬚C each.
Trace Gas Sampling and Analysis
Volatile organic compounds in the sampled air were mea-
sured with gas adsorption traps that were constructed from
2.2-mm-i.d., silica-lined, deactivated stainless steel (SilcoSteel
Type 304; Restek Corporation, Bellefonte, PA). The traps
were sonicated and rinsed in acetone, and packed with Tenax
TA 60/80, an adsorbent polymer resin (Alltech Associates,
Deerfield, IL). Glass wool placed into both ends of the trap
kept the resin from dislodging from the trap. Each end was
then fitted with a stainless steel cap to prevent adsorption of
compounds from ambient air.
To ensure that the Tenax resin was free from residue, all
traps were baked for 60 to 120 min at 220⬚C in a batch of
seven or eight traps at a time with about 20 mL min⫺1 of N2
flowing through each trap. One or more traps from each batch
were randomly selected and analyzed to ensure that the resin
was residue-free.
Sample air was drawn through the traps with a vacuum
pump (SKC, Eighty Four, PA), which sampled four bags simul-
taneously at a mean flow rate of 6.9 mL min⫺1 per trap. Trap
airflows were measured with a precision mass flow meter
(Digital Flow Check-HR; Alltech Associates) at the beginning
and end of each sampling run. To minimize subsequent adsorp-
tion of ambient odors into the traps, they were sealed with
stainless steel caps and stored in Ziploc bags (SC Johnson,
Racine, WI) at ⫺6⬚C until the time of analysis.
Gaseous compounds adsorbed in each trap were analyzed
with an environmental gas chromatograph (Model 8610C; SRI
Instruments, Torrance, CA) equipped with a 30-m ⫻ 0.53-mm
capillary wax column, and a flame ionization detector to ana-
lyze target compounds. The target analytes were acetic acid,
propionic acid, n-butyric acid, i-butyric acid, n-valeric acid,
i-valeric acid, phenol, p-cresol, indole, and skatole (Zahn et
al., 1997). The carrier gas was helium with a flow rate of 18 mL
min⫺1 at 34.5 kPa pressure. Oven temperature started at a
constant 40⬚C for 5 min, followed by three ramp increases in
succession; from 40 to 110⬚C at 10⬚C min⫺1, 160⬚C at 5⬚C
min⫺1, and 190⬚C at 10⬚C min⫺1. The thermal desorber temper-
ature was 260⬚C and was reached within 60 s, at which time
the compounds were injected into the column. The injector
valve, held at a temperature of 180⬚C, remained open for 6
min. The flame ionization detector temperature was 200⬚C
and the flow rates of hydrogen and air to the flame ionization
detector were 20 and 250 mL min⫺1, respectively. Calibration
of the gas chromatograph was conducted by spiking clean
traps with known amounts of target analytes (liquid form) in
1.0 ␮L of solution and desorbing them onto the column using
the same procedure.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The mean values presented in this study were calcu-
lated arithmetically, unless otherwise indicated. The ge-
 LIM ET AL.: ODOR AND GAS RELEASE FROM ANAEROBIC TREATMENT LAGOONS 411

Table 4. Data summary.

Lagoon A Lagoon B Combined
Variable† Mean 95% CI‡ Mean 95% CI Mean 95% CI
Water temperature§, ⴗC 25 1.6 25 0.9 25 0.9
ODCb¶, nL L⫺1 71 7.5 65 5.9 68 4.7
Lagoon berm
Odor intensity¶, ␮L L⫺1 BIW 2268 1622 1060 573 1404 581
Hedonic tone§ ⫺2.7 0.69 ⫺0.76* 0.36 ⫺1.7 0.6
OC¶, OU m⫺3 118 40 38* 12 67 22
OCE¶, OUE m⫺3 210 66 62* 17 114 38
Ammonia, mg m⫺3 4.1 0.6 3.4 0.7 3.8 0.5
Hydrogen sulfide, ␮g m⫺3 160 25 124 104 143 49
Carbon dioxide, mg m⫺3 870 29 879 36 875 22
Sulfur dioxide, ␮g m⫺3 25 15 54 36 39 19
Buoyant convective flux chamber (BCFC) inlet
Odor intensity¶, ␮L L⫺1 BIW 2077 719 1205* 242 1582 408
Hedonic tone§ ⫺2.8 0.4 ⫺0.9* 0.3 ⫺1.8 0.4
OC¶, OU m⫺3 171 52 57* 22 99 28
OCE¶, OUE m⫺3 303 71 93* 30 168 44
Ammonia, mg m⫺3 2.8 0.2 3.3 0.5 3.0 0.3
Hydrogen sulfide, ␮g m⫺3 185 24 158 30 171 19
Carbon dioxide, mg m⫺3 889 26 906 24 898 17
Sulfur dioxide, ␮g m⫺3 25 10 38 16 32 9.3
BCFC outlet
Air temperature§, ⴗC 27 1.1 29 2.1 28 1.2
Odor intensity¶, ␮L L⫺1 BIW 3026 682 1375* 266 2040 454
Hedonic tone§ ⫺3.4 0.4 ⫺1.4* 0.3 ⫺2.4 0.4
OC¶, OU m⫺3 257 66 93* 31 155 40
OCE¶, OUE m⫺3 455 80 151* 42 262 60
Ammonia, mg m⫺3 5.0 0.4 4.1 0.6 4.5 0.4
Hydrogen sulfide, ␮g m⫺3 320 31 192* 52 256 35
Carbon dioxide, mg m⫺3 908 25 912 25 910 18
Sulfur dioxide, ␮g m⫺3 34 14 44 17 39 11
Release
Odor¶, OU s⫺1 m⫺2 1.8 1.9 1.3 0.9 1.5 0.9
Odor¶, OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 2.7 3.2 1.9 1.5 2.3 1.5
Ammonia, ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 147 28 55* 30 101 24
Hydrogen sulfide, ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 9.1 1.6 2.3* 3.2 5.7 2.0
Carbon dioxide, ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 1306 325 398* 462 852 307
Sulfur dioxide, ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 0.63 0.57 0.37 0.44 0.50 0.36
* Significantly different than Lagoon A (P ⬍ 0.05).
† BIW, equivalent concentration of n-butanol in water; OC, odor concentration; OCE, odor concentration normalized to European odor units; ODCb,
odor detection concentration of n-butanol gas; OU, odor unit; OUE, European odor unit, equivalent to 123 ␮g of n-butanol.
‡ Confidence interval.
§ Arithmetic mean.
¶ Geometric mean.

ometric mean of ODCb during the 12 odor evaluation
sessions was 67.8 ⫾ 4.7 nL L⫺1 (mean ⫾ two times
standard error or 95% confidence interval), which com-
pared well with the target ODCb of 40 nL L⫺1 recom-
mended by the EN 13725 standard (European Commit-
tee for Standardization, 2002).
The geometric means of odor intensity were 1582,
2040, and 1404 ␮L L⫺1 BIW for inlet, outlet, and berm
samples, respectively. The means of HT were ⫺1.8,
⫺2.4, and ⫺1.7 for inlet, outlet, and berm samples, re-
spectively (Table 4). The odor of BCFC inlet samples

Odor and Gas Characteristics

The overall geometric mean odor concentrations of
BCFC inlet and outlet samples were 99 and 155 OU
m⫺3 (168 and 262 OUE m⫺3), respectively (Table 4),
similar in magnitude to the geometric mean of 199 OU
m⫺3 measured in exhaust air of swine nursery buildings
(Lim et al., 2001). Considerable variation in OC was
observed during each sampling visit (Fig. 3). Inherent
temporal and spatial variation in odor release and lack
of precision of OC determinations probably contributed
to this variation. To minimize nuisance potential, some
atmospheric dilution would have been required to re-
duce berm concentrations, which ranged from 16 to 219
OU m⫺3, to the property line limits of 7 to 15 OU m⫺3 Fig. 3. Geometric mean odor concentrations during sampling visits.
used by several states in the USA (Jacobson et al., 2001). Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
412 J. ENVIRON. QUAL., VOL. 32, MARCH–APRIL 2003

Table 5. Correlation coefficients (r ) between measured variables.

r
OCE† NH3 H2S CO2 SO2 Intensity
NH3 0.18
H 2S 0.52* 0.28*
CO2 0.36* 0.28* 0.30*
SO2 ⫺0.24* 0.19 ⫺0.07 ⫺0.27*
Intensity 0.67* 0.20 0.50* 0.29* ⫺0.13
HT‡ ⫺0.65* ⫺0.18 ⫺0.51* ⫺0.09 0.06 ⫺0.73*
* Significant at the 0.05 probability level.
† European odor unit, equivalent to 123 ␮g of n-butanol.
‡ Hedonic tone.

low actual release and potential absorption of gas into

Fig. 4. Mean ammonia concentrations at the buoyant convective flux
chamber (BCFC) outlet.
was similar to berm samples, but became more intense
and unpleasant as air flowed through the BCFC.
Overall mean NH3 concentrations were 3.0, 4.5, and
3.8 mg m⫺3, and overall mean H2S concentrations were
171, 256, and 143 ␮g m⫺3 for inlet, outlet, and berm
samples, respectively. During sampling visits, mean out-
let NH3 concentrations ranged from 2.4 to 7.5 mg m⫺3
(Fig. 4) and mean outlet H2S concentrations ranged
from 57 to 555 ␮g m⫺3 (Fig. 5).
Mean BCFC inlet concentrations for CO2 and SO2
were 898 mg m⫺3 and 32 ␮g m⫺3, whereas mean outlet
concentrations were 910 mg m⫺3 and 39 ␮g m⫺3 for CO2
and SO2, respectively. At the berm, mean CO2 and SO2
concentrations were 875 mg m⫺3 and 39 ␮g m⫺3, respec-
tively. Mean outlet concentrations were only slightly
greater than mean inlet concentrations for both gases
and both were similar in magnitude to berm concentra-
tions. Mean concentrations of NO were negligible, con-
firming measurements of NO from anaerobic swine la-
goons in Georgia (Harper et al., 2000).
Although mean gas concentrations of the BCFC out-
let were higher than the inlet, there were some inlet–
outlet sample pairs that had higher inlet concentrations.
This resulted in the calculation of a “negative” release.
Among 48 paired samples, there were 5, 10, 7, and 9
negative releases calculated for NH3, H2S, CO2, and SO2,
respectively. The possible causes were random errors
in the sampling–measurement procedure coupled with
the water.
Correlation coefficients between OC, intensity, and
HT, and concentrations of NH3, H2S, CO2, and SO2
for all BCFC inlet and outlet samples are presented in
Table 5. Results indicated that OCE was directly propor-
tional to intensity and inversely proportional to HT (P ⬍
0.05), similar to evaluations of swine nursery odor in a
previous study (Lim et al., 2001). The correlations also
showed that OCE was directly proportional to H2S and
CO2 concentrations (P ⬍ 0.05) and inversely propor-
tional to SO2 concentration (P ⬍ 0.05). Whereas little
correlation between OC and H2S was found in previ-
ous studies of livestock manure slurries and municipal
sewage (Jacobson et al., 1999; Stuetz et al., 1999), this
study, which normalized OCs to a reference odorant,
indicated a statistically significant relationship between
H2S and OC.
Odor and Gas Releases
The mean odor releases (n ⫽ 4) of each sampling
visit are shown in Fig. 6. Among the 48 release measure-
ments, there were only three and five negative odor
releases for Lagoons A and B, respectively, and four
zero-release values for Lagoon A. These negative and
zero releases indicated that the gas adsorption media
was unable to completely remove odors from the inlet
air under field conditions. The residence time for air
flowing through media was only about one second. He-
ber et al. (2002) recommended a 20-s residence time to
increase the odor removal efficiency.
Odor and gas releases were compared with previous
studies (Table 6). The overall geometric mean odor

Fig. 5. Mean hydrogen sulfide concentrations at the buoyant convec-

tive flux chamber (BCFC) outlet. Fig. 6. Mean odor releases and ambient and lagoon temperatures.
 LIM ET AL.: ODOR AND GAS RELEASE FROM ANAEROBIC TREATMENT LAGOONS 413

Table 6. Emission rates measured in other studies.†

Gases
Source OC‡ Odor§ NH3 H2S CO2 SO2
OU m⫺3 OU s⫺1 m⫺2 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2
Anaerobic lagoons (this study) 155 1.5 101 5.7 852 0.50
Anaerobic lagoons (Harper et al., 2000) 14
Anaerobic lagoons (Aneja et al. 2000) 109–163
Surface aerated facultative lagoon (Heber et al., 2002) 89–123 1.7
Nursery buildings (Lim et al., 2001) 190 2.0
Nursery building (Zhu et al., 2000) 50† 140†
Finishing building (Zhu et al., 2000) 170†
Finishing buildings (Heber et al., 1998) 142 5.0
Earthen basins (Jacobson et al., 1999) 76–299 2.2–18 2.9–43
Earthen basin (Schmidt et al., 1999) 134–588 16–180 7.8–48
Stirred slurry (Hobbs et al., 1998) 2.26 ⫻ 104 29 1398 5867
Stirred slurry (Hobbs et al., 1999) 1.34 ⫻ 104 50 771 7245
Finishing buildings (Ni et al., 2000d) 162
Empty building (Ni et al., 2000a) 24–58 1.3–2.1 778–1389
Lab manure reactor (Ni et al., 2000c) 0.2–0.4 0.1
† OC, odor concentration; OU, odor unit.
‡ Geometric means.
§ Maximum value.

release of 2.3 OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 (1.8 OU s⫺1 m⫺2) was similar
to 1.7 OU s⫺1 m⫺2 (mean ODCb ⫽ 150 nL L⫺1) measured
at a surface-aerated anaerobic lagoon (Heber et al.,
2002). The surface-aerated lagoon had been overloaded
by 23% as compared with the design loading (VSLR ⫽
118 g d⫺1 m⫺3) for an anaerobic lagoon (American Soci-
ety of Agricultural Engineers, 1997). Odor releases from
six swine manure earthen basins ranged from 2.2 to 17.6
OU s⫺1 m⫺2 (ODCb unknown) (Jacobson et al., 1999).
Geometric mean odor emission from finishing buildings
with fully slatted floors and deep pits was 5.0 OU s⫺1
m⫺2 (ODCb unknown) of floor area (Heber et al., 1998).
As expected, odor release from anaerobic lagoons was
typically lower than that from undiluted manure.
The mean BCFC outlet concentrations and releases
of trace gases are given in Table 7. There were no statis-
tically significant differences between lagoons for any of
the compounds, probably due to high variability, small
number of samples, and lack of BCFC inlet measure-
ments. The overall mean releases were 47, 0.54, 0.24,
0.14, and 0.05 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 for acetic acid, propionic acid,
butyric acid, phenol, and indole, respectively. These
were similar to releases from stirred pig slurries, which
were 17.2, 0.77, 0.66, 0.21, and 0.0 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 for acetic
acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, phenol, and indole,
respectively (Hobbs et al. 1999). However, since BCFC
inlet concentrations were assumed to be negligible in
the calculations, lagoon releases of trace gases presented
in this study possessed a positive bias.
Overall mean releases of NH3, H2S, and CO2 were
101, 5.7, and 852 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 and were 167, 296, and
228% higher (P ⬍ 0.05) in Lagoon A than B, respec-
tively (Table 4). The NH3 releases from these lagoons
were similar to an anaerobic swine lagoon in North
Carolina (Aneja et al., 2000), and approximately one
order of magnitude greater than anaerobic swine la-
goons in Georgia (Harper et al., 2000). As expected,
lagoon NH3 releases observed in this study were lower
than reported NH3 releases from swine houses, swine
manure storage basins, and stirred swine manure in lab
tests (Table 4), probably attributable to lower loading
rates. Harper et al. (2000) concluded that NH3 release
varied diurnally and seasonally, and was more highly
correlated with wind speed and water temperature. An-
eja et al. (2000) reported that release peaked in summer
(mean NH3–N release ⫽ 4017 ⫾ 987 ␮g N m⫺2 min⫺1),
decreased through the fall to a minimum during winter,
and increased again in spring. Odor and NH3 releases

Table 7. Trace gas† concentrations in the buoyant convective flux chamber (BCFC) outlet. Mean gross releases are shown in the last row.
Lagoon Date C2 C3 iC4 C4 iC5 C5 PL PC IND SKA
ng L⫺1
A 28 April 10 5.2 2.0 3.2 6.4 6.5 2.7 0.7 0.0 1.0
A 15 June 99 10.0 0.5 3.1 3.8 6.4 3.2 0.5 0.5 0.7
A 22 June 1559 9.9 0.0 4.5 1.6 2.7 1.6 0.2 4.0 2.1
A 29 June 1674 14.9 1.5 5.8 2.1 3.3 1.4 0.3 1.5 2.2
A 20 July 1466 8.9 0.9 1.6 2.0 5.3 3.7 6.3 0.1 0.7
A 27 July 1525 12.3 0.3 1.8 1.2 4.0 0.9 0.3 0.5 0.7
B 4 May 32 11 1.9 9.5 11.1 4.2 2.1 0.7 0.0 0.0
B 1 June 50 2.9 0.8 4.3 6.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
B 8 June 2.8 2.8 3.5 0.6 4.8 2.5 3.4 1.7 1.3 0.9
B 19 June 588 7.3 0.1 2.7 1.8 3.2 1.5 0.4 0.2 0.5
B 19 July 404 3.7 1.1 4.3 6.7 1.9 1.7 4.4 0.4 0.5
B 25 July 957 6.5 0.3 2.0 2.0 3.4 1.5 2.1 0.2 0.3
Overall mean 697 8.0 1.1 3.6 4.1 3.6 2.1 1.5 0.7 0.8
Release‡, ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 mean 47 0.54 0.07 0.24 0.28 0.24 0.14 0.10 0.05 0.05
† C2, acetic acid; C3, propionic acid; C4, n-butyric acid; iC4, i-butyric acid; C5, n-valeric acid; iC5, i-valeric acid; PL, phenol; PC, p-cresol; IND, indole;
SKA, skatole.
‡ Zero concentration at BCFC inlet was assumed.
414 J. ENVIRON. QUAL., VOL. 32, MARCH–APRIL 2003
Table 8. Lagoon influent characteristics.
Lagoon Date pH TKN† NH4–N TS‡
mg L⫺1
A 28 April 8.2 3262 2787 1.39
A 20 July 7.9 1399 1328 1.54
B 4 May 8.4 475 450 0.41
B 25 July 7.3 1549 1178 2.38
† Total Kjeldahl nitrogen.
‡ Total solids.
§ Volatile solids.
¶ C2, acetic acid; C3, propionic acid; C4, n-butyric acid; iC4, i-butyric acid; C5, n-valeric acid; iC5, i-valeric acid.
measured in this summertime study should therefore be
assumed to be at the higher end of the annual variation
(Hammond et al., 1989; Aneja et al., 2000).
Whereas H2S release data for lagoons was not found
in the literature, the mean H2S release (5.7 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2) in
this study was similar in magnitude to that of undiluted
stored manure in buildings, earthen basins, and lab reac-
tors. The mean release was near the lower end of re-
leases measured by Jacobson et al. (1999) and Schmidt
et al. (1999) from swine manure basins. It was consider-
ably lower than those of stirred slurries (Hobbs et al.,
1998, 1999), which might represent an extreme case,
since stirred manure emits large quantities of H2S in a
short time (Patni and Clarke, 1991). Release of H2S
from swine manure tends to be more variable than other
gases (e.g., NH3) because of burst releases (Ni et al.,
2000b,c).
The mean CO2 release was an order of magnitude
smaller than CO2 released from stirred pig slurry (Hobbs
et al., 1999), but similar to releases from underfloor
pits in emptied swine finish buildings (Ni et al., 2000a)
(Table 4). Carbon dioxide is an important component of
biogas, produced by anaerobic digestion. Biogas usually
contains 40 to 60% CO2.
The mean SO2 release of 0.5 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 was greater
that the mean release of 0.1 ␮g s⫺1 m⫺2 from laboratory
reactors (Ni et al., 2000c). However, surface air speeds
in the reactors were much lower than the 1.0 m s⫺1 air
speed in the BCFC.
Effect of Loading Rate
According to the analysis of variance, H2S concentra-
tion, OC, intensity, and HT at the BCFC outlet were
greater (P ⬍ 0.05) at Lagoon A than B (Table 4). The
releases of NH3, H2S, and CO2 were 2.7, 4.0, and 3.3
times greater (P ⬍ 0.05) at Lagoon A. Since VSLR of
Lagoon A was 2.6 times larger than Lagoon B (Table 1),
loading rate was shown to have a significant effect on
the releases of these gases. It is not known from the data
presented whether the significant differences between
Lagoons A and B were entirely attributable to higher
VSLR; other possible factors included the type of ma-
nure collection system and associated frequency of la-
goon loading (Table 1).
The geometric mean OCs in the BCFC outlet and at
the berm were 300 and 238% higher (P ⬍ 0.05) at
Lagoon A than at Lagoon B, respectively. While the
mean release values of 2.75 and 1.91 OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 sug-
Volatile fatty acids¶
VS§ C2 C3 iC4 C4 iC5 C5
% mg L⫺1
0.70 2947 479 115 231 98 32
0.92 1433 149 43 75 48 9.3
0.23 529 58 9.5 49 20 14
1.64 1836 532 78 269 89 55
gested a similar trend for odor release (Table 4), the
difference was not statistically significant (P ⬎ 0.05).
However, it is reasonable to assume that a lagoon with
higher VSLR will release more odors because of higher
solids content and bacterial activities. The lack of signifi-
cance was probably due to relatively large uncertainty
associated with estimated VSLR and measured odor
release coupled with small numbers of samples and
tested lagoons.
Lagoon emission rates can be calculated if uniform
flux or release from the entire surface is assumed. The
live mass specific emission rates of NH3, H2S, and CO2
were 525, 33, and 4649 mg s⫺1 AU⫺1 at Lagoon A as
compared with 537, 23, and 3908 mg s⫺1 AU⫺1 at Lagoon
B. Whereas the releases of NH3, CO2, and H2S were
higher (P ⬍ 0.05) at Lagoon A, the live mass specific
emission rates were not significantly different (P ⬎
0.05). The implication of this observation is that greater
dilution achieved with larger lagoon sizes reduces gas
releases, but actually increases the total emission from
the lagoon.
Effect of Slurry Characteristics
The mean pH values of lagoon influent (n ⫽ 4) and
effluent (n ⫽ 12) samples were 7.9 and 8.1, respectively
(Tables 8 and 9). The effluent pH was similar to values
reported by Harper et al. (2000) and Aneja et al. (2000).
The total solids of Lagoon A effluent was 33% higher
than Lagoon B (P ⬍ 0.05), but volatile solids were
similar. Odor releases appeared (inconclusively) to be
related to total solids, which were 2.7 OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 for
0.45%, and 1.9 OUE s⫺1 m⫺2 for 0.34% total solids at
Lagoons A and B, respectively.
The overall mean total Kjeldahl N concentration was
853 mg L⫺1, which was within the range of 500 to 750 mg
L⫺1 reported by Aneja et al. (2000). The mean NH4–N
and total Kjeldahl N concentrations of Lagoon A were
about 200% higher than Lagoon B. It is reasonable to
assume that lagoons with higher loading rates will re-
lease more odors due to higher nutrient concentrations,
solids content, and bacterial activities. This finding is
important especially when applying setback models to
anaerobic lagoons without the benefit of source mea-
surements. The measurements in this study will add to
the database from which the relationship between gas
and odor production and lagoon effluent characteristics
can be established. However, greater replication of la-
goons is needed in future studies. Analysis of volatile
 LIM ET AL.: ODOR AND GAS RELEASE FROM ANAEROBIC TREATMENT LAGOONS 415

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