Delineating Effects of Ionic Strength and Suspended Solids on Ammonia Volatilization from Dairy Manure Slurry

Abstract:

Ammonia emission is a major concern due to its adverse effects on animal and human health. Ionic strength and suspended solids play key roles in the ammonia volatilization process. These two parameters, however, are usually lumped together in form of total solids. The objective of this study was to separate the contribution of suspended solids (SS) from that of ionic strength (IS) on ammonia volatilization in liquid dairy manure. A two-way factorial experiment was conducted to simultaneously test the effects of IS and SS on ammonium dissociation: a key element of the ammonia volatilization process. The fraction of ammonia (β) in total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) was experimentally determined in a convective emission chamber, for each level of SS and IS, at a constant wind speed of 1.5 m s^-1, and air and liquid temperature of 25°C. The two way analysis of variance showed a significant effect of SS concentration (p = 0.04) on fraction of ammonia in the liquid dairy manure, while the effect of ionic strength was marginal (p = 0.05). The highest dissociation of ammonium was observed in manure with the lowest SS concentration (0%) and the lowest ionic strength (0.10 mol L^-1). Significant increases in suspended solids concentration and ionic strength were necessary to influence the ammonium dissociation in dairy manure. Results revealed that substantially high content of suspended solids (> 3.0%) or relatively high dilution of manure with water (30%) were necessary for these two parameters to play significant roles in the ammonia volatilization mechanism in liquid dairy manure. Results also showed that the β was more sensitive to the changes in suspended solids concentration than in the changes in ionic strength within the ranges of SS and IS examined in this study. Overall, the SS and IS effects on ammonium dissociation (and by extension on ammonia volatilization process) were thus found negligible within the normal ranges of liquid dairy manure characteristics.