Comparison of direct vs. indirect ventilation rate determination for manure belt laying hen houses

Hong Li, Hongwei Xin, Yi Liang, Richard S. Gates, Eileen Fabian Wheeler, Albert J. Heber

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Direct measurement of ventilation rate in livestock housing can be a formidable task due to uncontrollable variations in fan and system performance as caused by factors such as operation static pressure, fan belt condition, and dust accumulation on shutters and blades. Indirect, CO 2-balance method offers a potentially viable, more flexible alternative to estimating ventilation rate. The reliability of CO 2 balance method depends on the validity of relationship between CO 2 production and metabolic rate of the animals and the knowledge of CO 2 generation by the housing environment. Metabolic rates of modern laying hens have recently been quantified in intensive large-scale laboratory measurements. However, performance of the indirect method remains to be evaluated under field production conditions. This paper compares ventilation rates of a commercial laying hen house with manure belt (manure removed daily) obtained from direct measurement based on in-situ fan performance and runtime vs. indirect determination based on CO 2 balance. The results indicate that indirect determination based on CO 2 balance was well in agreement with that of direct measurement. Application of the CO 2-balance method to evaluate building ventilation rate can improve the affordability and versatility of poultry emission studies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages6155-6166
Number of pages12
StatePublished - 2004
EventASAE Annual International Meeting 2004 - Ottawa, ON, Canada
Duration: Aug 1 2004Aug 4 2004

Other

OtherASAE Annual International Meeting 2004
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityOttawa, ON
Period8/1/048/4/04

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Engineering(all)

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