The results of this study show limited benefit to exhausting a portion of air through the pit rather than through the wall for deep-pit pig finishing barns. This conclusion comes from similar indoor air quality (as determined by concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) made inside one room of a double-wide, deep-pit, pig finishing barn in southern Minnesota that operated its four pit fans in two-hour intervals at 0, 4, 10, and 20 cfm/pig over a six month time period. Gas and odor emissions were also determined for this commercial pig finishing room and were separated into pit and wall airstreams. These results would allow pork producers to strategically decide to use just wall fans for deep-pit barns or if emissions of gases or odor are of concern, to utilize some pit fans that have air emission control technologies like biofilters to considerably lower the barn’s emissions. Also, the particulate matter concentrations and emissions, or dust levels, in pit fan exhaust air are considerably lower than what is found in wall fan exhaust. This fact would also be beneficial for the design and maintenance of air control technologies on pit fan exhaust air.
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