New Tests Show Bion's Process Produces Only 0.08 pounds per Cow per Year of Volatile Organic Compounds
August 11, 2005
Independent lab results document non-enteric emissions of approximately 0.08 pounds per 1400 pound dairy cow per year of Reactive Organic Gases (ROGs) or 80 lbs per year for a 1000 cow dairy from the Bion system prior to discharge to the storage lagoon serving the DeVries 1250 cow free-stall flush-lane dairy in Dublin, Texas.
Almost two years ago, Bion began emissions testing from its DeVries Dairy facility using a state of the art sampling and testing protocol approved by a peer review group consisting of representatives of four different land grant universities and several other independent engineers and scientists. Those results, which are available on the Bion website (www.biontech.com), reported that no non-methane organic compounds (NMOC) were detected in any of the samples analyzed.
While Bion was performing its study, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) were working with a variety of researchers to do qualitative and quantitative determinations of the various species of organic compounds which comprise dairy emissions. This research found that the composition of the emissions previously measured as NMOC or VOC (volatile organic carbon) included significant amounts of acetone (which is not in the EPA VOC definition) and did not include a number of reactive gases of concern which are components of VOCs but not measured by the established standard VOC sampling and analytical techniques. Compounds unmeasured included some alcohols, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), phenols and amines. This California research thus indicated new techniques for more precise sampling and analysis of VOCs.
To incorporate these findings into its recent study, Bion used Columbia Analytical Laboratories in Simi Valley California (www.caslab.com) which had prepared standards, and developed and published methods for sampling and analyzing these categories of VOCs. In addition to a total volatile organic compounds measurement based upon gas chromatograph mass spectroscopy data, the library of additional standards and tests consisted of 17 VFAs, 13 amines, 10 phenols and cresols, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and methane. The sampling involved the collection of composite emissions over a 48 hour period in vacuum canisters as well as in a variety of sorbent tubes. Sorbent tubes allow the air being sampled to flow through media having a selective affinity for the target compounds sought, trapping them to then be released and analyzed in the laboratory. The technical improvements incorporated into the new study resulted in detection limits in the parts per billion range (ppb) for each specie or component of VOCs.
Using these more accurate techniques, and computing all non-detect values as producing emissions at one-half the detection limit, resulted in the currently reported value of approximately 0.08 pounds VOCs per cow per year.
Contact information:
| Mark A. Smith President 303-517-5302 mas@biontech.com |
Craig Scott Vice President-Capital Markets/IR 303-843-6191 direct cscott@biontech.com |