The seasonal effects of manure management and feeding strategies on hydrogen sulphide emissions from stored dairy manure

Abstract

The influence of temperature and storage time on hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) emissions from two different dairy manures was investigated over four seasons in 2012. Two separate experiments were conducted using dairy manure;(1) water baths at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30°C that were incubated for 15 h, and (2) 28-day batch experiment under room temperature. The headspace H 2 S concentration increased exponentially after 15°C and reached a maximum of 3.1 mg/L at 30°C. After the 4th day of storage, dairy manure emitted an average of 3.6 mg/L of H 2 S. However, a small decrease was observed on the 28th day, with a concentration of 2.8 mg/L. Under natural conditions, dairy manure emitted significantly lower H 2 S values during winter than during spring, summer and autumn when manure is widely used as fertiliser. Furthermore, regardless of the incubation temperature and storage time, manure from cows fed with concentrate-based feed emitted much higher H 2 S (6.5 times) than from cows fed with foragebased feed. These results indicated that the emissions of H 2 S from dairy manure could be managed by feeding cows minimal concentrate feed and by handling manure at cooler temperatures or lengthening the retention time.

Emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from typical dairy barns in central China and major factors influencing the emissions

“…The temperature affects the urease activity in the excrement and a higher temperature increases the urease activity, accelerating urea decomposition into NH 3 . Formation and release of H 2 S from manure are also expected to be affected by the temperature, since the decomposition of S-containing organic compounds in manure is enzyme-dependent 30 .…”

Validation of mobile in situ measurements of dairy husbandry emissions by fusion of airborne/surface remote sensing with seasonal context from the Chino Dairy Complex

“…For example, Schiffman et al (2001) identified 331 different inorganic and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a swine facility. The most significant trace gas is hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), which can cause health problems to workers and animals (Andriamanohiarisoamanana et al, 2017). Other important sulfur gases include mercaptans and disulfides (Casey et al, 2006).…”