AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

Title: An air modification system to reduce winter ventilation rates in broiler houses. Abstract Approved: Associate Professor M. L. Hellickson An in-house air modification system capable of allowing reduced recommended winter ventilation rates in warm confinement broiler houses was designed, fabricated, and tested. System design was based on control of moisture, heat, and ammonia to levels that promote maximum broiler performance. Design conditions necessary to size the major components of the air modification system re determined using the results of a broiler house ventilation model. The model was used to establish the necessary heat, moisture, and ammonia balances within a structure at ventilation rates reduced to as much as 50 percent of those normally required to meet the moisture balance. The air modification system was fabricated to combine three major components into a tower arrangement. These were: 1) an air/water constant contact packed bed dehumidifier; 2) clinoptilolite ammonia scrubbing beds; and 3) a heat pump energy recovery and redistribution system. Tests on system performance showed an ability to condense 0.28 kg/mm of ter vapor from flow-through chamber air and redistribute the latent heat energy, plus Redacted for privacy work of compression, to the inside chamber air. High system energy consumption, coupled with difficulty in establishing a thermal comfort zone at bird level using convective heat transfer properties of the modified air stream prevent economic application at this time. Recommendations were made to improve the system and reduce energy demand