Livestock transfer truck drying room energy-saving study

Abstract

To ensure the safety of the hogs in large-scale pig farming, the hog transfer truck needs to be cleaned and disinfected at high temperatures. This paper proposes a model of the transfer truck drying room based on spherical air outlets, using RC-4HC temperature and humidity measuring instruments, electronic scale, and other devices to measure the drying process of the transfer trucks at different outdoor ambient temperatures, different deck placement techniques, and different degrees of preheating, and explores the problem of excessive energy consumption in the transfer truck drying room. The outcome demonstrates that the transfer truck drying chamber has the fastest drying time—3137 s. The drying room’s energy use is also significantly influenced by the transfer truck leaching effect, deck positioning, which has the second-highest impact, and the outdoor ambient temperature, which has a negligible effect. The fuel consumption of the drying room is decreased by 5.19% and 25.78%, respectively, when the second truck is preheated for 600 s and 1500 s utilizing the leftover heat from the drying of the first truck. The resultant energy savings are astounding.