Natural ventilation and surface temperature distribution of piglet crate heated floors

Abstract

This research had the objective of evaluating the influence of the natural ventilation on the surface temperature distribution of heated crates. The research used six crates from a farrowing room in a commercial swine production farm located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Three crates were heated using a heat mat while the other three had the environment heated by incandescent light bulbs (200W) fixed on the lateral wall. The surface temperature of the crate's floor (1.55x0.55m) was registered in 36 points, distributed in 18 quadrants (0.26x0.18m) using an infrared thermometer in three different conditions of the room's natural ventilation: opened, semi-opened, and closed lateral curtain. The isotherms and the temperature distribution of the floor heat were processed using the SURFER ® (1995), and the statistical analysis was done using the MINITAB ® (Statistical…, 2002). It was found that the room's natural ventilation had a significant influence on crate floor surface temperature distribution. The crate with a heat mat system provided higher temperatures and led to a more homogeneous surface temperature distribution.Keywords: thermal comfort, air velocity, farrowing, swine (1,55x0,55m) RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência da ventilação natural sobre a distribuição da temperatura na superfície de pisos aquecidos em escamoteadores. Foram avaliados seis escamoteadores da maternidade de uma granja de suínos localizada no estado de São Paulo. Dentre os escamoteadores avaliados, três deles usavam piso aquecido para o acondicionamento dos leitões, e os outros usavam lâmpadas incandescentes (200W), fixadas na parede lateral do interior do escamoteador. A temperatura da superfície do piso

Local Heating through the Application of a Thermoelectric Heat Pump for Prenursery Pigs

“…The effectiveness of the following four options of heating system for prenursery pigs was experimentally evaluated: electrically heated mat (EM), water-heated mat (WM), water-heated 'warm' floors (FH), and infrared heating lamps (IRL). Based on the research results, taking into account statistical data on average daily gain (ADG), mortality rate of prenursery pigs, as well as the effect of heating on their behavior, use of electrically heated mats or 'warm' floors with water heating were considered the most effective local heating system within the period of the first five weeks (starting from the third week) [22][23][24][25][26][27]. A carbon fiber heater has been developed for the local heating of breeding saw with prenursery pigs, providing the required thermal comfort and reducing power consumption compared to conventional heating lamps (HL) [28].…”

A new approach for categorizing pig lying behaviour based on a Delaunay triangulation method

“…The heat regulation capacity of pigs is poorly developed compared with other mammals and heat loss is critical for them (Mendes et al, 2013). Controlling environmental parameters helps to deliver high health, welfare and production performance efficiency (Mount, 1968;Shao et al, 1998).…”

“…Room temperature in a building for growing pigs is normally kept within their thermal comfort zone (at around 20°C), and the conventional measuring systems in commercial pig farms are based on only one or two air temperature sensors at fixed points above pig level (Mendes et al, 2013). Therefore, finding a method that indicates the thermal experience of the pigs themselves by image processing could be a useful supporting technology to improve control of the ventilation system for better thermal comfort and welfare of pigs in the room.…”

Isolamento térmico com material reciclado em escamoteadores aquecidos

“…Desta forma, o ambiente térmico é avaliado em função de índices de conforto térmico, sendo que cada parâmetro ambiental de temperatura, umidade e velocidade do vento possui importância relativa ao animal (SAMPAIO et al, 2004). Segundo Mendes et al (2013), as variáveis ambientais da sala maternidade (ambiente externo) podem influenciar o ambiente interno do escamoteador. Por isso, é necessário o controle preciso das variáveis de temperatura, umidade e ventilação na sala maternidade.…”