Geostatistics applied to swine facilities equipped with evaporative cooling system

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the spatial variation of temperature, relative humidity and black globe humidity temperature (BGHT) index in growing-finishing swine facilities, with and without evaporative air cooler. The experiment was conducted in a 60 x 9 m facility containing 32 pens of 3.20 x 4.00 m each, divided into two sectors. The treatments were without evaporative air cooler (control) and with evaporative air cooler. Temperature and relative humidity data were collected weekly in two periods (morning and afternoon) at 32 different sampling points, encompassing the center of each pen and the outer perimeter of the facility. Animal performance variables were: feed intake, feed conversion, weight out of the nursery, slaughter weight, weight gain and daily weight gain. According to the results, the analyzed variables showed spatial dependence, with lower temperature and higher relative humidity in the evaporative air cooler environment. However, evaporative air cooler system provided better environment thermal conditions inside the facilities, lowering BGHT values, which were lower in the adiabatic cooling sector. Although thermal conditions were better in the air cooler environment, swine performance was not affected.Geoestatística aplicada às instalações suínas equipadas com sistema de resfriamento evaporativo R E S U M O Objetivou-se, neste trabalho, avaliar a variação espacial da temperatura, umidade relativa e índice de temperatura de globo negro e umidade (ITGU) em instalações de suínos na fase de crescimento e terminação, com e sem resfriador de ar evaporativo. O experimento foi conduzido em uma edificação de 60 x 9 m, contendo 32 baias de 3,20 x 4,00 m cada uma, divididos em dois setores. Os tratamentos foram sem resfriador de ar evaporativo (controle) e com resfriador de ar evaporativo sendo os dados de temperatura e umidade relativa coletados semanalmente em dois períodos (manhã e tarde) em 32 pontos de amostragem diferentes abrangendo o centro de cada baia e o perímetro exterior das instalações. As variáveis de desempenho dos animais foram: consumo de ração, conversão alimentar, peso ao sair da creche, peso ao abate, ganho de peso e ganho de peso diário. Os resultados mostraram que as variáveis analisadas apresentaram dependência espacial com temperatura mais baixa e umidade do ar mais alta no setor com resfriador evaporativo. Desta forma, o resfriamento evaporativo melhorou as condições térmicas ambientais no interior da instalação, reduzindo os valores do ITGU, os quais foram menores no setor de resfriamento adiabático. Embora o conforto térmico do ambiente com resfriamento evaporativo tenha sido melhor, os suínos não responderam a esta melhoria, em termos de desempenho. Key words:animal welfare spatial analyses environment conditions semivariogram Palavras-chave: bem estar animal análise espacial condições do ambiente semivariograma

Behavior of pigs subjected to climate control system in the Semiarid Region of Pernambuco, Brazil

“…Using geostatistical techniques, [1] observed spatial dependence between thermal comfort indicators and lower temperature and higher air humidity in the sector with the evaporative cooler, reaching a temperature reduction of approximately 5 °C, taking into account the maximum external temperature and the maximum variation obtained inside the facility, concluding that the evaporative cooling improved the environmental thermal conditions in the animals' housing. Due to the peculiar characteristics of the semi-arid climate, the reductions obtained were more accentuated when compared to experiments in other locations with milder conditions, conditioned mainly by the low humidity of the air, which maintained an average condition of 50%, in the period in which the climate control system remained activated.…”

Representativeness of the field of rural buildings and ambience in Brazilian journals / Representatividade do campo dos edifícios rurais e do ambiente nas revistas brasileiras

“…The impact that a rural production building can cause on the production process itself, on the product and the workers, is very expressive. Especially in animal production, the quality of the physical environment 2,3,11,12,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] (rooms, population density, construction materials, the ease of nutritional and sanitary management) and the quality of the indoor environment (pollutant gases, particulate materials, microorganisms, temperature and relative humidity, ventilation 11,[31][32][33] ) are distinctive factors in the quality of the process and product.…”