| Author(s) | Ibrahim M. Al-Helal |
| Affiliation | Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia |
| Title | Environmental Control for Poultry Buildings in Riyadh Area of Saudi Arabia |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Agricultural Sciences. Volume 16, No 1. (2004/1424) |
| Abstract | A study of the environmental control practices and problems for poultry was conducted in Riyadh area of Saudi Arabia. Information was obtained on the building size, labor, material of construction, cooling and heating systems, and automatic control for fifteen commercial poultry buildings. Ventilation rates to control temperature, moisture and ammonia were estimated and evaluated for every building. Also, supplemental heat capacities to maintain the desired indoor temperature were determined. The results showed that the floor space for chickens ranged from 0.052 to 0.061 m2/bird. Walls and roofs were constructed with metal panels, concrete blocks and insulating materials. Cooling was accomplished by fan and pad evaporative cooling systems. The result obtained from this study indicated that summer ventilation rates were between 0.80-1.51 air exchanges per minute, and between 0.31-0.46 air exchanges per minute for winter. It was predicted that ventilation rates during summer could control moisture and ammonia in all farms, while could not control temperature in 33% of farms. The results indicated that ventilation was necessary during winter to control temperature, moisture and ammonia. During winter days, estimated ventilation rates for temperature control were higher than those required for ammonia and moisture control. However, during winter nights, predicted ventilation rates for ammonia control were higher than those required for temperature and moisture control. Therefore, ventilation rates for ammonia control were considered to be minimum ventilation rates, and to be continuous during night. In such a condition, supplemental heat was required to maintain the building at the desired air temperature. Winter ventilation rates were much higher than those required for moisture and ammonia control. This increased mixing of cold outside air with warm inside air. Therefore, indoor temperature could not be maintained at the desired level during winter season even though thermal outputs for heaters were higher than the predicted supplemental heat capacity. Heat was distributed in the building by discharging hot air directly or through perforated polyethylene duct. Some major problems of environment control were salt precipitation and dust accumulation in the cooling pad, non-uniform temperature in the building, and low efficiency of cooling and heating systems. Some recommendations to improve the performance of the environmental control systems for poultry buildings in Saudi Arabia were presented. |
