Wireless Dust Sensor Network for a Feedlot Dust Abatement Study

Abstract

The mobilization of animals across Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) generates large dust plumes causing visibility and human health issues. The ability to measure with many sampling points across a field and to have vertical measurements would aid in the characterization of dust plumes by providing a more accurate, average concentration. A small, inexpensive, portable, wireless nephelometer dust sensor was developed using a low-cost, commercial optical sensing module. A second dust sensor was developed that samples air by the method of impaction of a dust-air stream into a water droplet capturing images using a low-cost USB microscope. The Box Model was used to calculate the emissions from measured concentrations at a source location and a Gaussian Dispersion Model predicted the concentration at a downwind location. Dust plume modelling showed six low-cost sensors with 20% error resulted in higher accuracy than a single reference sensor.