Analisi e simulazione delle condizioni di benessere termo-igrometrico in sale parto di porcilaia con raffrescamento evaporativo

Evaporative cooling is often the only device used in farrowing houses in areas with hot dry climate. The system dimensioning, especially for extremely hot summer conditions, needs a deep hygro-thermal analysis of the indoor climate. During summer 2001 an experimental trial was carried out in a farrowing house, provided with an evaporative cooling pad system, of a farm leader in intensive swine breeding in Eastern Sicily. The data analysis showed that the microclimatic conditions inside the house are not always within the limits of some heat stress indexes.In this paper a model, based on air psycrometric relations and sensible and latent heat balances, simulates the effectiveness of the evaporative cooling system in dependence on the external climatic conditions, the ventilation rate and the number of animals.The results are presented as diagrams that, by relating indoor and outdoor hygro-thermal variables with ventilation, could be a useful tool to improve the system management and to support system design for the same typology of buildings.