Modelling Indoor Environmental Conditions in a Commercial Broiler House

Abstract

Turkey’s poultry industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in the construction of many new  production facilities. It is important to maintain optimum environmental conditions for a profitable production. In this  study, temperature, relative humidity and air velocity distribution inside a broiler house were analysed. Computational  Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations (numerical method) and direct measurements (experimental method) were used  to determine the appropriate indoor environmental conditions. Simulated values were validated by comparison with  the measured values using the normalised mean square error (NMSE). The measured and predicted parameters of  temperature, relative humidity and air velocity at birds’ height, human height, and roof height upon comparison gave  average NMSE values of 0.139, 0.181 and 0.090, respectively. The results showed a good agreement between simulated  and measured values as obtained NMSE values were less than 0.25. In conclusion, CFD simulation can be used as an  alternative method for the analysis of poultry house indoor environment. A better understanding of indoor environment  conditions in poultry house provides useful information for manufacturers and end users for better management decisions.