Description
Dry matter (DM) losses caused by formation of gaseous fermentation products can be measured by different methods. The most common method (A) is measuring the difference between the DM input and output of a silo. Other methods are based on the measurement of the fermentation gases which spontaneously leave the silo, either directly by collecting them (B) in a special absorbent like KOH or, much more easily, by weighing the filled silo at the beginning and the end of the fermentation process (C). The figures obtained by B and C are substantially smaller than those by A. This difference represents a certain amount of CO2 which is retained within the silage. The objective of this paper is to deduce a procedure for estimating the amount of this retained CO2 so that the results obtained by method C (or B) can be corrected.
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A Simple Method for the Correction of Fermentation Losses Measured in Laboratory Silos
Dry matter (DM) losses caused by formation of gaseous fermentation products can be measured by different methods. The most common method (A) is measuring the difference between the DM input and output of a silo. Other methods are based on the measurement of the fermentation gases which spontaneously leave the silo, either directly by collecting them (B) in a special absorbent like KOH or, much more easily, by weighing the filled silo at the beginning and the end of the fermentation process (C). The figures obtained by B and C are substantially smaller than those by A. This difference represents a certain amount of CO2 which is retained within the silage. The objective of this paper is to deduce a procedure for estimating the amount of this retained CO2 so that the results obtained by method C (or B) can be corrected.
