Solar Operated Cooling System for Poultry Shed

Mechanical Engineering

India has a meat-eating population of about 60 percent and increasing. The poultry industry is a rapidly growing sector with annual growth rate of about 8-10 percent. Ambient conditions, especially high temperature in combination with high relative humidity in poultry shed leads to heat stress in poultry birds and in turn reduces their productivity and increases mortality significantly. India, being predominantly a tropical country, the day time temperatures during summer reaches as high as 45°C at many places. The capital and operational cost of conventional evaporative air-cooling system is very high as compared to the investment standards of poultry management in India. Apart from this, poultry sheds are generally located in rural areas where schedule power cuts are normal affair. The operation cost of cooling & ventilation system on generator power is 3-5 times higher. Hence, majority of the poultry operators do not use proper cooling system which makes them susceptible to the adverse effects of temperature on production cost and hence profits. The present work is directed towards developing low-cost cooling effect through operational interventions on solar operated Low-Cost Cooling System for Poultry Shed. It incorporates use of different temperature & humidity control techniques, battery storage system, solar PV system, structure and exhaust air management practices to eliminate effect of heat stress in poultry birds. The system reduces mortality, improve productivity and thereby increase profit for the farm owner.

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