EFFECT OF A MANURE ADDITIVE ON AMMONIA EMISSION FROM SWINE FINISHING BUILDINGS

The effect of a commercial manure additive (Alliance®) on ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions was evaluated in commercial 1000-head grow-finish swine buildings over a six-month period. The test was conducted in two treated and two control buildings at a modern swine-finishing site consisting of nine identical buildings. Automatic spray application systems in the treated buildings intermittently sprayed the additive onto the surfaces of the below-floor manure storages. Ammonia concentrations were measured with a chemiluminescence analyzer at three location groups in each building over 7 or 12 min periods every 1.0 to 1.5 h. Pit fan airflow rates were measured continuously with impeller anemometers. Wall fan airflow rates were calculated from fan pressure/airflow curves and measured static differential pressure between indoor and outdoor air. Nearly 7,000 data subsets from 332 building-days of testing were obtained for comparing NH 3 emission rates between control and treated buildings. The mean NH 3 emission rate per AU (animal unit or 500 kg live weight) from the treated buildings (96.4 g/day·AU) was 24% (P < 0.05) lower than the control buildings. The volume of additive solution was sufficient to dilute the fresh manure by 20%, but the effect of dilution only on NH 3 emission was not measured.