Regularities of forming the conditions of temperature and humidity in the cow barn air environment

Summary. The article presents the study results of air temperature and humidity regimes in a cow barn with tie-stall housing conducted in January-June 2021. The monitoring outcomes and statistical data analysis resulted in the mathematical models, which could be the basis for the creation of modern microclimate control systems in cow barns.

Introduction. Several factors, including the outside environment, govern the formation of optimal temperature and humidity conditions in a cow barn. The study aimed to monitor the air environment parameters in a cow barn and to establish the patterns, by which the temperature and humidity regimes in the cow barn were formed under different weather conditions. Research associated with identifying these patterns in live-stock premises in the North-West Region of the Russian Federation will make it possible to create an array of mathematical models for different technologies of cattle housing essentially required in the development of modern microclimate control systems livestock housing facilities.

Object. The study object was a barn for 200 dairy cows with tie-stall housing and a natural ventilation system.

Materials and methods. The study monitored the temperature and relative air humidity in the cow barn in January-June of 2021 with a stationary system designed at IEEP – branch of Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM. The data analysis using MS Excel and Mathcad software packages resulted with the mathematical models.

Results and conclusions. The variation amplitude of indoor parameters was smaller than that in external weather conditions. When the outside air temperature fluctuated from -5^°С to +20^°С, the temperature in the cow barn varied from +7^°С to +22^°С. The relative air humidity in the cow barn was within 69±20%, and the outside air humidity was 58±42%. Statistical data analysis for the period from January to March showed that the air temperature in the cow barn in winter with a probability of 0.955 would be in the range of +12.6±4.68°C and depend on the outside air temperature only by 23%. Statistical data analysis for the period from April to June showed that the air temperature in the cow barn with a probability of 0.955 would be in the range of +18.23±7.72^°C and depend on the outside temperature by 75%. The relative humidity in the cow barn during this period with a probability of 0.955 will be in the range of 67.3±26.2% and depend on the relative humidity of the outside air by 65%. The high dependence of these parameters on the outside environment in the period from April to June, compared with the period from January to March, is explained by a larger air exchange, as a rule, owing to completely open windows and gates.

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