Comparison of ammonia emissions from animal wastes and chemical fertilizers after application in the soil

Background Application of different chemical fertilizersand manures is a major source of ammonia (NH3)emission. The rate and total amount of NH3 emission arerelated to different parameters such as climatic conditions,soil characteristics and kind of fertilizer. The currentstudy has indicated the NH3 emission from bovineslurry, pig slurry and ammonium nitrate fertilizer afterapplication on two soils. Two different methods wereused to measure NH3 emissions: the method that use acidtraps and the method that use photoacoustic infrared gasanalyzer.Results In both soils the rate of NH3 emission was thegreatest from the denser bovine slurry, declined in the pigslurry followed by the ammonium nitrate treatment and thecontrol. The rate of soil infiltration could be the main factorthat explained these differences. For all treatments theamount of total NH3 losses reduced in the more acidic soil.For all fertilizers the highest NH3 fluxes were measured inthe first hours after spreading. A good agreement observedbetween the two methods is used for determining of NH3emission. The use of a multi-gas monitor (MGM) is simpleand accurate and produces a continuous series of NH3concentration in time.Conclusion The rate and amount of NH3 emission wasrelated to the kind of fertilizers and interaction of thesetreatments with soils. The results of current study confirmedthat comparison of chemical fertilizers and slurryfor NH3 emission is difficult because the reaction of thesetwo groups of fertilizer is totally different.