Exploring Ventilation Efficiency in Poultry Buildings: The Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in a Cross-Mechanically Ventilated Broiler Farm

Eliseo Bustamante, Fernando-Juan García-Diego, Salvador Calvet, Fernando Estellés, Pedro Beltrán, Antonio Hospitaler and Antonio G. Torres
Additional contact information
Eliseo Bustamante: Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Fernando-Juan García-Diego: Department of Applied Physics (U.D. Agriculture Engineering), Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Salvador Calvet: Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Fernando Estellés: Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Pedro Beltrán: Department of Applied Physics (U.D. Agriculture Engineering), Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Antonio Hospitaler: Department of Construction Engineering and Civil Projects, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Antonio G. Torres: Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Energies, 2013, vol. 6, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Broiler production in modern poultry farms commonly uses mechanical ventilation systems. This mechanical ventilation requires an amount of electric energy and a high level of investment in technology. Nevertheless, broiler production is affected by periodic problems of mortality because of thermal stress, thus being crucial to explore the ventilation efficiency. In this article, we analyze a cross-mechanical ventilation system focusing on air velocity distribution. In this way, two methodologies were used to explore indoor environment in livestock buildings: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and direct measurements for verification and validation (V&V) of CFD. In this study, a validation model using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was conducted to compare these methodologies. The results showed that both methodologies were similar in results: the average of air velocities values were 0.60 ± 0.56 m s ?1 for CFD and 0.64 ± 0.54 m s ?1 for direct measurements. In conclusion, the air velocity was not affected by the methodology (CFD or direct measurements), and the CFD simulations were therefore validated to analyze indoor environment of poultry farms and its operations. A better knowledge of the indoor environment may contribute to reduce the demand of electric energy, increasing benefits and improving the thermal comfort of broilers.

Keywords: livestock building; design; efficiency; ventilation; cross-mechanical ventilation; poultry farm; broilers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/5/2605/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/5/2605/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:5:p:2605-2623:d:25830

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().