Tunnel ventilation is an effective means of protecting and enhancing the productivity of livestock (especially swine and egg layers) in large scale confinement barns. The capital and operating costs for these fan installations typically represents a significant fraction of the total costs to the livestock producer.The Phase I research program has shown that significant improvements (ca. 40 percent in airflow and 10 percent in efficiency) can be obtained by the judicious use of active control flows. The Phase II proposal is to permit optimized ventilation systems to be designed using advanced CFD (computational fluid dynamics) methods. The CFD codes will be proof-tested using baseline data (first iteration) and used to define the predicted/optimized configurations: the second iteration. Experiments will confirm (or suggest modifications to) the latter.
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:Digital Flow Technologies, Inc. will work in close collaboration with our commercialization partner: Aerotech, Inc. of Mason, MI in the development of the optimized system approach. The support provided by the partner is provided the understanding that the results of the Phase II work will be readily integrated into the Aerotech product line. Aerotech's experience as a leading manufacturer and supplier of top-end equipment ensures the marketing and sales resources to move the developed units into livestock production community.
