Numerical modelling of air temperature and velocity in a forced ventilation piggery

Pigs are subjected to intensive environment control and management for higher productivity due to their sensitivity to climatic variation, which affects their growth. The aim of the current work is to numerically model the air speed and temperature in a forced ventilation piggery to achieve optimum environmental control. This work can also help to identify problems in the design of piggeries and offer suggestions for improvements. A steady two-dimensional numerical model including the effect of buoyancy, turbulence and heat generated by the pigs was solved using the computational fluid dynamics software Fluent, using the integral volume method. Air speed and temperature inside the piggery and at the pigs’ level were predicted for three different locations of ventilation opening, inlet velocities in the range (0.3 - 7 m/s), insulation or no insulation in the external walls, and for 5 °C and 32 °C ambient temperatures