Factors affecting the ammonia content in the air surrounding a broiler farm
2011
von Bobrutzki, K. | Müller, H.-J. | Scherer, D.
The emission and dispersion of ammonia (NH₃) in the atmosphere near a large livestock facility was investigated for its direct impact on the environment. Ammonia emission and dispersion are influenced by various local factors. The major factors affecting the NH₃ concentrations in the air around the broiler farm over an entire growing cycle were monitored. Both internal and external factors in connection with the broiler barns were considered. Ten factors-of-influence (FOI) that strongly influence the dispersion of NH₃ were selected. The FOI employed included: NH₃-mass-flow, internal and external temperatures, mean and turbulent wind components in horizontal and vertical directions, atmospheric stability, day-of-growing cycle, and exhaust air height. Multiple linear regressions (MLR) were implemented to analyse the relationship between FOI and the NH₃ measured in the air. Different approaches of MLR were applied, considering the entire data range and subsets of data to determine a general model and other more restrictive models that can be used. Overall, the precision of the predictive models of atmospheric NH₃ dispersion, based on different datasets, was satisfactory (coefficient of determination R²>0.83). Irrespective of the models applied, the mean vertical wind component proved to have significant influence on the concentration of NH₃ in the air. The results of this study show that the monitoring of specific FOI can be used to predict the concentration of NH₃ in the air surrounding a broiler farm. This particular monitoring practice enables investigators to assess the possible negative impact of NH₃ on the environment.
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