Tracking oxygen and temperature dynamics in maize silage-novel application of a Clark oxygen electrode

摘要

Making silage involves a complicated biochemical process where oxygen (O-2) is rapidly consumed within the sealed environment leading to fermentation and stable storage of the biomass. Reintroduction of the oxygen from a leak or the feed-out process results in silage degradation. Monitoring silage O-2 concentration and temperature (T-si) can provide critical insight regarding silage quality. Thus, an in situ biosensor for simultaneous monitoring of O-2 and T-si to track silage aerobic deterioration has long been needed but was unavailable. Although the Clark oxygen electrode (COE) is traditionally applied for O-2 concentration dissolved in liquids, we extended its use to the gaseous phase of silage based on Henrys law. This study tested COE's using two trials, where trial-1 explored the initial-aerobic/ensiling phase and trial-2 examined the silage feed-out phase. The experimental results of both trials demonstrated that the COE can be an important monitoring tool for assessing the O-2 dynamics throughout the silage lifecycle. (C) 2015 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.