Modeling the Thermal Conditions in a Piglet Area with Infrared Heating

Aleksey Kuzmichev, Aleksei Khimenko (), Dmitry Tikhomirov and Dmitry Budnikov
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Aleksey Kuzmichev: Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 109428 Moscow, Russia
Aleksei Khimenko: Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 109428 Moscow, Russia
Dmitry Tikhomirov: Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 109428 Moscow, Russia
Dmitry Budnikov: Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, 109428 Moscow, Russia

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: A pressing task is to develop a mathematical model and calculation method that most accurately describes the radiant component of heat exchange between an animal and its environment. This will help determine the optimal design parameters and temperature conditions for infrared (IR) heaters in livestock premises. The mathematical models considered describe the animal’s heat exchange with the environment during IR heating. However, they do not take into account the hidden surface temperature of the premises’ enclosing structures and their emissivity factor, or the relationship between animal thermal comfort and the IR heater surface temperature. The proposed radiant heat exchange mathematical model is applicable to diffusely absorbing and radiating isothermic surface system typical of pigsties. It takes into account the emissivity factors of all of the enclosing structures’ surfaces and determines the effective (apparent) premises temperature value t ef , corresponding to the thermal comfort conditions. The IR heater surface temperature’s dependence on the emissivity of the pigsty’s enclosing structures (walls, ceiling, and floor) is given, calculated using three methods. As the emissivity of the premises’ enclosing structures decreases, the difference between the results obtained via methods 1, 2, and 3 increases significantly and reaches 50…60% at ε = 0.8. The IR heater radiating surface temperature range is defined in order to create suitable thermal conditions on premises designed for keeping 1- to 4-week-old newborn piglets depending on the enclosing structure temperature and emissivity, taking into account hidden heat exchange surfaces.

Keywords: heating young animals; IR radiator panel; radiant heat exchange; thermal balance; emissivity; thermal comfort; effective temperature on premises; biotechnical system; mathematical model; thermophysical model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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