Open AccessBioscrubber treatment of exhaust air from intensive pig production: Case study in northern Germany at mild climate condition
Author(s) -
Liu Fang,
Fiencke Claudia,
Guo Jianbin,
Rieth Robert,
Cuhls Carsten,
Dong Renjie,
Pfeiffer EvaMaria
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
engineering in life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1618-2863
pISSN - 1618-0240
DOI - 10.1002/elsc.201600169
Subject(s) - nitrous oxide , ammonia , carbon dioxide , methane , environmental science , environmental chemistry , greenhouse gas , nitrification , environmental engineering , nitrogen , chemistry , ecology , biology , organic chemistry
Treatment by field‐scale bioscrubber of exhaust air, including ammonia (NH 3 ) and the greenhouse gases methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), from 13 intensive pig production houses located in northern Germany were investigated in 2013 and 2015. NH 3 removal efficiencies varied between 35 and 100% with an overall average value of 79% under the NH 3 inlet fluctuations from 34 to 755 g d −1 m −3 in both 2013 and 2015. Results of the electron microscopic analyses demonstrated that the bacteria Nitrosomonas sp. and methanotrophs type I were the dominant NH 3 and CH 4 oxidizers, respectively. However, overall average removal efficiencies of CH 4 was approximately zero, which means CH 4 is hard to remove in bioscrubbers under normal operation. The pH of recirculation water in the bioscrubber varied from 6.1 to 8.1, and the bioscrubbers with low pH values (<7.0) had high NH 3 removal efficiencies (>79%). Electrical conductivity was commonly used to diagnose the bioscrubbers’ performance; in the present study, electrical conductivity presented a significant linear relationship with dissolved inorganic nitrogen, which indicates the performance stability of the 13 selected bioscrubbers.