Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1985

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Houston Luttrell

Committee Members

Luther Wilhelm, H. O. Vaigneur, Joel F. Bailey

Abstract

This research was performed to evaluate the air flow characteristics of a model totally enclosed swine farrowing house with partially slotted floors. A 1/8 scale model was designed and constructed according to the principles of similitude, and a laboratory experiment was conducted. The effects of pit ventilation duct construction, farrowing crate design, and ventilation rate were studied. Two replications of the 13 treatments of the experiment were made. The two types of pit ventilation construction included a PVC pipe duct system and a center masonry duct system. Open and solid side farrowing crates were tested along with three rates of ventilation. Control treatments consisting of no pit ventilation, solid side crates, and medium ventilation rate were also tested. Air velocities were measured and recorded at 144 points within the model for each treatment. There was good agreement between the velocities of the two experiment replications. Although the coefficients of variation were similar to those reported from other studies, the velocities did not follow a pattern which could easily be mathematically predicted as a function of location within the model. Most of the conclusions reached in previous studies have been based on average air velocities. Since the average air velocities found in this study often did not correlate with the minimum air velocities, the concept of using minimum air velocity as a ventilation system evaluation criterion was investigated. The air velocities were not much different for the two types of pit ventilation ducts - either at the pig level or at the sow nose locations. Minimum air velocities were all lower when no pit ventilation was used. The minimum air velocities at both the pig and the sow levels were higher for the open side crate treatments than for the treatments using solid side crates. The air velocities resulting from the low ventilation rates were much less uniform than those produced by the high ventilation rates. The minimum air velocities at the pig level, the sow level, and the level near the ceiling increased as the ventilation rate increased.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS