Evaluation of a Wet Acid Scrubber and Dry Filter Abatement Technologies in Pig Barns by Dynamic Olfactometry

Livestock activities, in particular swine farms, are sources of odorant compounds thatcause conflicts with the neighboring population. Beside the effects on the neighborhood, excessiveodor emission can cause discomfort to farm workers. In this context the APPROAch project, aims totest the application of two different air cleaning technologies (a wet acid scrubber and a dry filter) toreduce dust, ammonia and odors, in naturally ventilated pig facilities. The aim of the present studyis to evaluate, in a pig farm, the odor removal efficiency of the two tested abatement technologies,based on air samples analyzed by dynamic olfactometry. Odor sampling was carried out at a pigfacility involved in the project and brought to the lab within 30 h from sampling, as established bythe European Standard EN 13725:2004. Odor concentration was evaluated by dynamic olfactometryusing an Olfaktomat-n 6 (PRA-Odournet B.V.—Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The results showthat the wet acid scrubber prototype presents an average odor removal efficiency of 16%, whereasdry filter has from limited to no effect. This efficiency could be considered as a good result for aprototype even if further analysis, with longer sampling periods are needed.