Efficiency of the Integrated Nitrogen Removal Device to Remove Ammonia in a Hog House

Abstract

It is crucial to explore new methods to deal with ammonia pollution in hog barns. In this experiment, ammonia gas generated from the decomposition of nitrogenous organic matter, such as feed and manure in hog barns, was studied. Growing environmental parameters monitored included temperature, humidity, and ammonia nitrogen concentration. For 92 days between March and May, ammonia emissions were characterized by monitoring and collecting the ammonia concentration during the selected time. The results showed that the average temperature in the hog house was 18.2 ± 2.7°C, the humidity was 62.7 ± 0.3%, and the average ammonia concentration range was 17.7∼23.1 mg m−3. The collected ammonia-nitrogen-containing wastewater that entered the denitrification device showed 173, 232, 201, and 280 mgNH4-N/L, respectively. An integrated denitrification device with anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria as a functional strain was used for denitrification treatment. Through the change of ion concentration in the incoming and outgoing water, an 85.5% average denitrification efficiency was calculated according to the denitrification reaction chemical formula. Thus, the results presented here provide data support for the future use of microbial denitrification equipment to treat ammonia in hog houses.