Half-Life of Farts and Slat Level

[MysteryFellow63427]

While researching the half-life of farts, I encountered the term “slat level.” What does it mean? It appears to have some relation to farming and/or chemistry. Examples of usage:

http://www.ameramslurry.com/pdf/Aeration-Trial-Summary.pdf

Atmospheric concentrations of H2S gas were measured at slat invert level in the centre of
the tanks during mixing of non-aerated slurry and 0.5m above slat level during subsequent
pumping of this slurry.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056139936&page=2

Leaving sensational and emotional reponses to one side, are farmers allowed to take out a load or so if the slurry is starting to go above slat level?

http://www.ameramslurry.com/pdf/Aeration-Trial-Full-Report.pdf

Three farms in Northern Ireland that had low rate aeration systems installed were
surveyed. Atmospheric H2S gas concentrations were measured at slat invert level over
an approximate one-week period on three separate occasions for each of the three
farms.

Also, here is a really awesome semi-scientific page on farts. The question of what the half-life of a fart is still appears to be an open one. Cecil, feel free to jump in.

[MysteryFellow63427]

Bump–any chemists or farmers out there have any clue??

[am77494]

IMHO - your question is misguided or maybe you are misunderstanding the whole thing.

Slats are like grating - like a drain cover which has slots in them for liquids to drain through and evolved gases to come out - sort of like a manhole cover with slots cut in them - here are some pictures - http://www.cravenconcrete.co.uk/agprod/cattleslats.html
http://www.mcgrathquarries.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=79

Now for the half life of farts. The main component of farts is Hydrocarbons (methane is predominant) and not H2S. So lookup atmospheric effects of methane - here’s an article - http://www.epa.gov/rlep/faq.html

Half life of methane in the atmosphere is 7 years (Methane news and latest updates). So maybe that is what you were looking for in the first place.

[Bozuit]

@am77494

Now for the half life of farts. The main component of farts is Hydrocarbons (methane is predominant) and not H2S.

What kind of farts are we talking about here? The links suggest the subject is cow farts but no one has actually said that. If we’re talking about humans then hydrocarbons are by no means the main component. That would be nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Most humans don’t fart methane at all. I’ve also read that cows don’t actually fart that much methane and most of it comes from burping. So I would guess in cow farts hydrocarbons are also secondary to some or all of other gases I mentioned too.