Assessment of Tubing Type on Ammonia Gas Adsorption

Thumbnail Image
Date
2012-01-01
Authors
Zhu, Zhiping
Xin, Hongwei
Li, Hong
Dong, Hongmin
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Person
Xin, Hongwei
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Organizational Unit
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.

History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.

Dates of Existence
1905–present

Historical Names

  • Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)

Related Units

Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Abstract

Different types of tubing and operating conditions may be involved when measuring ammonia (NH3) concentrations and its emissions from animal production facilities. Prices of commercially available tubing vary substantially. A question that has often come up but has not been well investigated is how the tubing type (e.g., PVC vs. FEP) may impact the certainty of NH3 concentration measurement. The study reported here was conducted to address this issue in that it assessed and compared the magnitude of NH3 adsorption to different types of commercially available tubing under conditions that may be present in animal feeding operation (AFO) air emission studies. The types of tubing evaluated were: Teflon® (PFA and FEP tubing), HDPE (clear plastic tubing), and PVC (vinyl tubing). Each tested tubing had a length of 30.5 m (100 ft) and an inside diameter of 6.35 mm (0.25 in.). Five nominal NH3 levels of 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 ppm, generated with poultry manure, were passed through the tested tubing at an airflow rate of 8 L min-1 (0.28 CFM) for 60 min. Simultaneous measurements of NH3 concentrations at the inlet and outlet of the tested tubing were made with two photoacoustic gas spectrometers (1% repeatability of measured value and 0.2-ppm NH3 detection limit). Although the Teflon tubing had significantly lower NH3 adsorption than the HDPE or PVC tubing, all the tested tubing showed <3% NH3 differences between the inlet and outlet concentrations after the 60-min exposure and mostly <1% for NH3 levels >40 ppm. The results of this study thus suggest that the HDPE and PVC tubing offer viable, more economical air sampling options for AFO NH3 emission studies.

Comments

This article is from Applied Engineering in Agriculture 28, no. 2 (2012): 265–269.

Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Source
Copyright
Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2012
Collections