• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.391-400
• /
• 2008

Odor management is significantly concerned with sustainable livestock production because odor nuisance is a primary cause for complaint to neighbors. This study was conducted to measure the concentration of odorous compounds, odor intensity, and odor offensiveness at unit process in animal waste treatment facility combined composting and methane fermentation process by an instrumental analysis and direct olfactory method. Ammonia, sulfur-containing compounds, and volatile fatty acid were analyzed at each process units and boundary area in summer and winter, respectively. Higher concentration of odorants occurred in the summer than in the winter due to high ambient temperature. The maximum concentration of odorants was detected in composting pile when mixed manure was being turned followed by inlet, curing, outlet, and screen & packing process. Highest concentration of detected odorous compounds was ammonia ranging from 3.4 to 224.7 ppm. Among the sulfur-containing compounds measured, hydrogen sulfide was a maximum level of 2.3 ppm and most of them exceeded reported odor detection thresholds. Acetic acid was the largest proportion of VFA generated, reaching a maximum of 51 to 89%, followed by propionic and butyric acid at 1.9 to 35% and 1.8 to 15%, respectively. Malodor assessment by a human panel appeared a similar tendency in instrumental analysis data. Odor quotient for predicting major odor-causing compounds was calculated by dividing concentrations measured in process units by odor detection thresholds. In the composting process, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, dimethyl sulfide, and methyl mercaptan were deeply associated with odor-causing compounds, while the major malodor compounds in the inlet process were methyl mercaptan, hydrogen sulfide, and butyric acid.