Field Performance of a Pit Additive Tested in Commercial Grow-Finish Houses

Purdue University 1997 Swine Research Report. Most of the pigs produced in Indiana are finished in large enclosed buildings with slotted floors and long term underfloor manure storage. Of the 130 trace gases in the air of animal houses, concentrations are known for only 23 (Hartung and Phillips, 1994), of which NH3, CO2 and H2S are the most important. However, most of the quantitative information, especially on emission rates, of these three gases in large swine buildings is somewhat lacking. The reported NH3 emission rates from swine houses range from 3.4 to 78.9 lb per 100 lb of live weight per year depending on housing types (Hartung and Phillips, 1994). Measurement of NH3 emissions from large swine houses in North America has not been found in the available literature. The only reported field investigation of CO2 emission was in Belgium with a small house of less than 70 pigs (Ni et al., 1996). Measured concentrations of H2S in pig houses were from 3.75×10-8 to 1.25×10-6 lb/ft3 (Muehling, 1970; Goedseels, 1973; and Hartung and Phillips, 1994), but emission rates were not determined. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercially available manure additive (Alliance) to reduce noxious gas emissions from hog buildings and gas levels inside the buildings.