The issue of odour, greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air quality in swine buildings have become a great concern for the neighbouring communities as well as governments. Air dispersion models have been adopted widely as an approach to address these problems which determine science-based distance between livestock production site and neighbours. However, no existing model considers the diurnal and seasonal variations of odour, gas (ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, greenhouse gas), and dust concentrations and emissions, which may cause great uncertainty. The primary objective of this project is to monitor and model the diurnal and seasonal variations of odour, gases, and dust concentrations and emissions from nursery, farrowing, and gestation rooms. Additionally, this study tried to quantify the greenhouse gas contribution from swine buildings and evaluate the indoor air quality of swine barns. <p>Strip-block experimental design was used to measure the diurnal variation of odour and gas concentrations and emissions in PSC Elstow Research Farm. It was found that: 1) odour and gas concentrations in winter were significantly higher than those in mild and warm weather conditions for all three rooms (P<0.05); 2) the nursery room had higher level of odour and gas concentration and emission than the other two types of rooms, no significant difference existed between the farrowing and gestation rooms (P>0.05); 3) significant diurnal variations occurred in August and April (P<0.05) for odour and some gas concentrations and emissions, while no significant diurnally variations were found in February (P>0.05); 4) apparent diurnal variation patterns were observed in August and April for NH3, H2S and CO2 concentrations, being high in the early morning and low in the late afternoon; 5) positive correlation was found between odour concentrations and NH3, H2S, and CO2 concentrations, respectively. <p>A whole year ( August 2006 to July 2007) monitoring of odour, gas and dust concentrations and emissions revealed that: 1) significant seasonal effect on odour and gas concentrations and emissions, total dust concentrations and dust depositions were observed (P<0.05), but no specific variation pattern was discovered for odour and gas emissions; 2) the total greenhouse gas emission from all the rooms in the gestation, nursery and farrowing area was 2956 CO2 equivalent tons per year, where gestation area, nursery area, and farrowing area accounted for 39.3 %, 37.2% and 23.5%, respectively; the CO2 emission contributed 53.4% to the total greenhouse emission, and CH4 contributed to 43.9%, 2.7% for N2O; N2O could be considered negligible; 3) indoor air quality of the swine barn met the requirements set by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (1996) of Saskatchewan for NH3, H2S, and CO2. <p>Statistical models were developed for each type of room to predict the odour and gas concentrations and emissions based on four variables: ventilation rate, room temperature, ambient temperature, and animal unit. The predicted results showed agreeable with measured values for most models (R2 = 0.56-0.96). Generally, gas prediction models performed better (R2=0.61-0.96) than odour prediction models (R2=0.56-0.85).<p>This study was conducted in the province of Saskatchewan throughout one year and the results could be used as representative data for Canada Prairies. Due to the large diurnal and seasonal variabilities of odour emissions, it was recommended to take multiple measurements of odour emission rate under different weather conditions in order to improve the accuracy of air dispersion modeling.

The issue of odour, greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air quality in swine buildings have become a great concern for the neighbouring communities as well as governments. Air dispersion models have been adopted widely as an approach to address these problems which determine science-based distance between livestock production site and neighbours. However, no existing model considers the diurnal and seasonal variations of odour, gas (ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, greenhouse gas), and dust concentrations and emissions, which may cause great uncertainty. The primary objective of this project is to monitor and model the diurnal and seasonal variations of odour, gases, and dust concentrations and emissions from nursery, farrowing, and gestation rooms. Additionally, this study tried to quantify the greenhouse gas contribution from swine buildings and evaluate the indoor air quality of swine barns. <p>Strip-block experimental design was used to measure the diurnal variation of odour and gas concentrations and emissions in PSC Elstow Research Farm. It was found that: 1) odour and gas concentrations in winter were significantly higher than those in mild and warm weather conditions for all three rooms (P<0.05); 2) the nursery room had higher level of odour and gas concentration and emission than the other two types of rooms, no significant difference existed between the farrowing and gestation rooms (P>0.05); 3) significant diurnal variations occurred in August and April (P<0.05) for odour and some gas concentrations and emissions, while no significant diurnally variations were found in February (P>0.05); 4) apparent diurnal variation patterns were observed in August and April for NH3, H2S and CO2 concentrations, being high in the early morning and low in the late afternoon; 5) positive correlation was found between odour concentrations and NH3, H2S, and CO2 concentrations, respectively. <p>A whole year ( August 2006 to July 2007) monitoring of odour, gas and dust concentrations and emissions revealed that: 1) significant seasonal effect on odour and gas concentrations and emissions, total dust concentrations and dust depositions were observed (P<0.05), but no specific variation pattern was discovered for odour and gas emissions; 2) the total greenhouse gas emission from all the rooms in the gestation, nursery and farrowing area was 2956 CO2 equivalent tons per year, where gestation area, nursery area, and farrowing area accounted for 39.3 %, 37.2% and 23.5%, respectively; the CO2 emission contributed 53.4% to the total greenhouse emission, and CH4 contributed to 43.9%, 2.7% for N2O; N2O could be considered negligible; 3) indoor air quality of the swine barn met the requirements set by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (1996) of Saskatchewan for NH3, H2S, and CO2. <p>Statistical models were developed for each type of room to predict the odour and gas concentrations and emissions based on four variables: ventilation rate, room temperature, ambient temperature, and animal unit. The predicted results showed agreeable with measured values for most models (R2 = 0.56-0.96). Generally, gas prediction models performed better (R2=0.61-0.96) than odour prediction models (R2=0.56-0.85).<p>This study was conducted in the province of Saskatchewan throughout one year and the results could be used as representative data for Canada Prairies. Due to the large diurnal and seasonal variabilities of odour emissions, it was recommended to take multiple measurements of odour emission rate under different weather conditions in order to improve the accuracy of air dispersion modeling.