13 / 2025-03-27 18:02:39

CFD simulation on the ventilation performance inside a naturally ventilated pig barn with an outdoor exercise yard under different seasons

pig housing system, animal welfare, ventilation, openFOAM

2. 畜禽设施养殖工艺与装备系统 > （5）最佳福利和效率的设施养殖空间需求

    Different from conventional pig barns where pigs carry out all activities in a confined space, a novel livestock building –naturally ventilated pig barns with an outdoor exercise yard (NVPBOYs), offers possibilities to separate pigs’ excretion and sleeping in the exercise yard and the housing area, respectively. This design aligns with the pig’s natural behaviour and excretion in the yard helps reduce ammonia emissions, thereby improving animal welfare and environmental sustainability. However, there has been no systematic investigation of this novel pig barn, and information regarding its ventilation remains limited. Therefore, this study aims to simulate the ventilation system inside NVPBOYs across three seasons (summer, winter, and transitional season) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The simulation considers the influence of the pigs and is validated using an NVPBOY facility in Germany. The indoor airflow patterns and temperature distributions are analyzed to assess the ventilation performance of this novel livestock building under different seasonal conditions. The results indicate that ventilation performance varies across seasons, leading to distinct environmental conditions between the yard and the indoor housing area. The indoor space provides a more controlled and favourable environment compared to the yard, effectively supporting the separation of sleeping and excretion throughout the year. This study demonstrates an improvement in the animal welfare of pigs inside NVPBOYs.