Instrumentation for Measurement of Hydrogen Sulfide Concentrations and Emissions in Animal Manure Management Systems

Significant emissions of environmentally important gases result from manure management systems associated with animal production. Confined livestock and poultry operations are identified as important sources of emissions that are of environmental concern on spatial scales ranging from local to regional, national, and global. Hydrogen sulfide is one such gas. Existing detection methods for measurement of H2S are slow and possibly susceptible to false results due to other sulfur compounds. The proposed approach will directly measure H2S emitted from animal production operations, particularly manure management systems. This instrumentation will provide a versatile combination of high sensitivity and fast time response that will greatly enhance capabilities for measuring concentrations and emission rates of H2S associated with animal manure management systems.