Comprehensive Evaluation of a Landscape Fabric Based Solar Air Heater in a Pig Nursery

Supplementing fossil fuels with solar air tempering for brooding young livestock could reduce energy use and improve indoor air quality. Metal transpired solar collectors (TSC) are effective but too expensive for heating livestock buildings. An inexpensive 12.7 m2 dark grey landscape-fabric-based tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2021-11, Vol.14 (21), p.7258
Main Authors: Yu, Li, Shah, Sanjay B., Knauer, Mark T., Boyette, Michael D., Stikeleather, Larry F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air quality
Air temperature
Barns
Control rooms
Energy consumption
Environmental impact
Fabrics
Heat
heat storage
Heating
Hogs
Indoor air pollution
Indoor air quality
Indoor environments
Irradiance
Livestock
microclimate control
Nurseries
Payback periods
Phase change materials
Polyethylene
Solar collectors
Solar energy
Suction
Swine
transpired solar collector
Ventilation
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Summary:Supplementing fossil fuels with solar air tempering for brooding young livestock could reduce energy use and improve indoor air quality. Metal transpired solar collectors (TSC) are effective but too expensive for heating livestock buildings. An inexpensive 12.7 m2 dark grey landscape-fabric-based transpired solar collector (fTSC) was evaluated in a swine nursery with two herds of pigs. A fraction of the fTSC area was underlain with phase change material (PCM) to store excess heat. The Test room with the fTSC was compared with an adjacent identical Control room, each with 120 piglets. The fTSC provided supplemental heating, e.g., with a suction velocity (Vs) of 0.027 m/s during a 9 h period, air temperature was increased by 11.6 °C (mean irradiance of 592 W/m2). Between 4 pm and 9 pm that same day, the PCM increased air temperature by 3.9 °C. The fTSC did not reduce propane use or improve pig performance. Higher Vs, operational changes and controller modifications could improve system performance and reduce cost. Modeling could be used to optimize PCM use. Hence, this very low-cost fabric-based solar air heater offers potential for considerable reduction in heat energy use in livestock barns.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en14217258