GB2329240A

GB2329240A - Cooling and humidification systems

Info

Publication number: GB2329240A
Application number: GB9719419A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Howard Considine; David Charles Gerrey
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-09-13
Filing date: 1997-09-13
Publication date: 1999-03-17
Also published as: GB9719419D0

Abstract

A cooling and humidification system designed to be installed in an animal husbandry house with the intention that it can be used alternately for cooling the atmosphere or raising humidity by evaporation, and cooling the animal directly by contact with the skin. The position of the nozzles in the house can be easily adjusted. A fast acting valve incorporated with one or more nozzles allowing short water bursts without dripping. In addition the design of the valve may allow automatic selection of different nozzles to provide different spray characteristics.

Description

Improvements to cooling and humidification svstems In the rearing of Poultry and other farm stock, it is desirable to maintain the temperature and humidity of the surroundings as near the optimum as possible, so as to maintain the animals or birds as healthy as possible. This is commonly done by spraying water into the path of the incoming ventilation air, as in figure 2, or sometimes into the airflow from air circulating fans inside the house, as in figures 1 and 7.

In the early stages of growth, when the birds are small, a high humidity and warm conditions are required. At this stage, the ventilation rates are low, so a small amount of fine mist is required which will evaporate quickly In the later stages of growth, when the birds are active, it is required to cool the atmosphere to maintain a comfortable temperature. This requires a fine spray into the high level of incoming ventilation. Conventional poultry house cooling and humidification systems generate a fine spray into the incoming ventilation air, or sometimes into the roof of the house, as in figure 3, so that the spray evaporates into the ventilation air, thereby cooling it. The spray may also be distributed into the outlet of a ventilation fan or heater with the same effect.

The incoming water from the main is filtered and conditioned as required, and then usually pressurised to 3 to 100 bar, and distributed to a number of spray nozzles.

Figures 1 to 4 show cross sections of the houses form the end, which may typically be 20 metres wide, and 100 metres long. Figures 5 and 6 show the side view of the arrangment of the inside of the house In these systems the spray nozzles are mounted near the air inlets, as in figure 2, or in the air circulation fans, or heater fans, as in figure 1, or in the roof of the house as in figure 3, in order that the spray is well dispersed, and does not reach the floor or birds. They are specifically arranged so that all the spray evaporates, none reaching the ground or birds.

However, it has been observed that some species may take advantage of faLling water, such as rain to assist the grooming or preening of their fur or plumage, It may therefore be advantageous to arrange for a spray of coarser droplets which will fall on the birds to simulate light rain, which assists the preening process, which improves the condition of the plumage, which in turn assists the birds own temperature regulation function.

It may also be advantageous for carefully controlled amounts of spray to reach the floor to reduce dust levels, and to cool the litter on the floor.

The system described herein has the spray nozzles mounted on a frame which may be raised or lowered within the house so that the spray may be moved to the best position for the ventilation conditions existing at any time. The simplest arrangment might be for the nozzles to be mounted on a tube containing the supply water, being sufficiently rigid to be supported by wires hanging from the roof of the house as in figures 5 and 6, and connected to a winch which would raise and lower the tube. In the raised position the nozzles would be as in figures 3 and 5, and in a lower position in figures 4 and 6. Raising and lowering the nozzles assists in arranging for carefully controlled amounts of liquid water to fall on the birds, and on the floor.

This arrangment also allows the position of the nozzles to be adjusted by trial and error, or to accomodate the differences between different designs of house.

The system may also be constructed that the pressure to the spray nozzles may be varied. This allows the spray to be varied from fine to coarse for different purposes.

For instance, a coarse spray arranged to reach the floor, as in figure 4, may be suitable for assisting to birds to preen,. A fine spray reaching the floor, as in figure 4, may be suitable for reducing dust. A fine spray not reaching the floor, as in figure 3, may be suitable for humidification when the air circulation is low. A fine spray at a level where the ventilation air enters the house, as in figure 4,may be suitable for cooling the air when the ventilation rates are high., Different nozzles may be fitted to the system for different spray conditions, for instance, some nozzles may produce a coarse, and others a fine spray. Different types of nozzle may be activated by fitting to each nozzle a valve which is sensitive to the pressure in the system so that different nozzles may operate at different pressures. In this way nozzles designed for coarse or fine spray may be selected at different times, and the volume of spray may be varied by selecting a greater or smaller number of nozzles.

Each nozzle might be associated with a valve, or a number of nozzles might share a single valve assembly.

Spay nozzles are difficult to modulate, as they are designed to work over a small pressure range. If the pressure is too low, the nozzle will not atomise properly, and at higher pressuers, the volume flow through the nozzle does not vary greatly with increasing pressure. This causes a problem when the ventilation rates are very low, when a small amount only of spray may be required.

In this system, different nozzles giving the required fine spray may be made to operate at different pressures, so that, for instance, as the pressure is raised more nozzles come into action.

Different nozzles might point in different directions, for instance, those required for humidification might spray upward, and those intended for wetting the birds might point downwards, nozzles in different directions being selected by varying the pressure.

The method of attachment of the suspension wires to the water tube may be arranged so that the tube can be rotated so that the nozzles may be made to point in different directions.

Lowering the nozzle assembly makes the nozzles and valves more accessible for maintenance and repair.

Claims

1. A cooling and humidifying system designed for animal environment control, with facilities for allowing different conditions to be obtained depending on the age of the animals and other conditions.

2. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claim 1 in which the position of the sprays can be varied in order to control the spread and evaporation of the water droplets.

3. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claim 1, which allows control of water droplet size by controlling the water pressure.

4. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claim 1, which automatically selects different performance nozzles by varying water pressure.

5. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claim 17which includes a valve assembly designed to rapidly open and close even when the water pressure rises and falls slowly.

6. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claim 1,which may include a valve assembly incorporating a pressure intensifier so that the pressure in the delivery pipe can be kept low.

7. A cooling and humidifying system as claimed in Claims 1 - 6 that specifically allows water to reach the animals when desired but allows the droplets to evaporate before reaching the animals at other times.

8. A cooling and humidifying system substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.