Air Management Practices Assessment Tool

Odor - Liquid Systems

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Odor Control for Liquid Manure Storage Practices - Aeration

Pro	Con
Keeps the environment aerobic (less odor than anaerobic conditions)	Could emit more gases (particularly ammonia) during the aeration process

Because nuisance odor results from incomplete anaerobic processes, strategies to supply oxygen and maintain an aerobic environment can effectively control odor. Use of mechanical aerators on manure slurry or dilute manure storages will reduce odors substantially. However, capital investment and operating costs are considerable ($2 to $4 per pig marketed or $3,000 to $6,000 per aerator; often, more than one aerator is needed). Selection and size of an aerator or aeration system is critical to obtain the desired performance, so a consultant needs to be involved in the decision-making and planning processes. Systems that aerate only the top portion of the manure storage, thus reducing cost, are under evaluation.

Aerator on second stage lagoon Aeration, by design, incorporates oxygen into the manure storage. Most commonly, mixing of the manure is used to introduce oxygen. During this process N is volatilized to the atmosphere, primarily as ammonia. Therefore, aeration, although effective for reducing odor, can increase ammonia emission.

Extension Publications

PM 1970a Practices to Reduce Odor from Livestock Operations (pdf)
PM 1970b Practices to Reduce Odor From Livestock Operations Flowchart (pdf)
EDC 162h Air Quality and Animal Agriculture (pdf)
PM 1936 Air Quality Resources for Iowa Animal Agriculture (pdf)
PM 1935 Gaseous Emissions from Animal Agriculture (pdf)
PM 1963a The Science of Smell Part 1: Odor perception and Physiological Response (pdf)
PM 1963b The Science of Smell Part 2: Odor Chemistry
PM 1963c The Science of Smell Part 3: Odor detection and measurement (pdf)
PM 1963d The Science of Smell Part 4: Principles of Odor Control (pdf)
PM 1964 Odor Control Methods Used by Iowa Pork Producers (pdf)
PM 1754b Iowa Odor Control Demonstration Project Aeration (pdf)
FS925-A Understanding Livestock Odors (pdf)