Evaluation of a cost-effective ammonia (NH3) analyser in pig house

Ammonia is one of the major gaseous pollutants in pig production. Although the issue is recognized in environmental policies and development of emission reduction techniques, there is a lack of suitable tools to provide sufficient monitoring. Measuring ammonia poses several technical challenges due to the physiochemical properties of the gas and the complexity of indoor air composition in pig housing. Standard ammonia measurement techniques are either too costly or labour intensive. A more efficient solution is required to improve the monitoring efficiency in pig farms. In this study a commercially available cost-effective tuneable-diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS) analyser was evaluated in both laboratory and field conditions, compared with a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyser and a cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) analyser. The results suggested that the tested ammonia analyser can be applied for a relatively low cost ammonia monitoring system in pig houses.