Validation of Five Gas Analysers for Application in Ammonia Emission Measurements at Livestock Houses According to the VERA Test Protocol

Ammonia emissions are an important issue in livestock production. Many mitigation measures have been proposed in order to reduce the environmental impact of livestock farms, and reliable field measurements are required to evaluate the amount of released or reduced ammonia while applying these measures. Following the guideline of the Verification of Environmental Technologies for Agricultural Production test protocol, five commercially available gas analysers, i.e., INNOVA 1314, Picarro G2103, Rosemount CT5100, Gasmet CX4000, and Axetris LGD F200-A, were validated as alternative methods to the wet-chemistry method (reference method) for measuring ammonia in livestock houses. High correlations (r>0.99) were found between the analysers and the reference method. The measurement errors of the tested analysers were below 2 ppm(v)or 10%. Equivalence to the wet-chemistry method was demonstrated for the INNOVA and Rosemount analysers without a recalibration and for the Picarro and Axetris analysers with a recalibration. The Gasmet analyser was seemingly subjected to an interference from carbon-dioxide and, after compensating for the cross-sensitivity, the equivalence to the wet-chemistry method could also be demonstrated. Calibration curves that were based on a certified gas cylinder were inconsistent with that based on wet-chemistry measurements, which suggested that field calibration might be necessary for optimal measurement accuracy.