Radiant floor heating system for broilers in Portugal

Fátima Baptista*, Vasco Fitas da Cruz*, Dina Murcho* & Asdrubal Neves+

*Universidade de Évora and ICAAM, Portugal+Equiporave Ibérica

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Contents

1. General considerations2. Energy consumption3. Radiant floor heating system4. Some results5. Final considerations

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General considerations

• Poultry production in Portugal– 6,7% of national agriculture product;– 20.254.000 broilers (60% of total poultry);– Portugal is self sufficient in poultry meat.

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General considerations

• For meat production energy is consumed for:– Feed production and processing– feeding– ventilation– heating– illumination– manure removal– animal healthcare,– ...

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Energy Consumption

Final energy consumption (FEC) and FEC of agriculture (including forestry) for the years 1998 and 2008 according to the Eurostat data (Gołaszewski et al., 2012).

CountryTotal FEC

in PJFEC of agriculture*

in PJFEC of agriculture* in % of total FEC

1998 2008 1998 2008 1998 2008EU-27 46 658 49 205 1 257 1 071 2.7 2.2Denmark 630 649 31 29 5.0 4.5Finland 1 005 1 083 30 35 3.0 3.2Germany 9 428 9 386 114 42 1.2 0.4Greece 761 890 45 46 6.0 5.1Netherlands 2 082 2 139 157 132 7.5 6.2Poland 2 526 2 606 198 152 7.8 5.8Portugal 2 526 2 606 25 15 1.0 0.6

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Energy Consumption

Eurostat data presented is not sufficient to describe the energy consumption of the European agriculture for various reasons:

– Not all the energy required for the production of agricultural products is allocated to the sector "agriculture/forestry" in the Eurostat statistics (p.e. FEC of fertilizer production is allocated to the sector "industry“);

– The production of agricultural products requires a variety of forms of energy such as heat, electrical energy, besides the fuel for combustion engines.

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Energy Consumption

www.dgeg.pt

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Energy Consumption

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Company costs EnergyConsumption

CO2eq

Other

Diesel and electricity

Feeding

Broilers

Relative contribution of different inputs to economics, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Broiler farm with air heaters. Other include bedding straw, veterinary and water. (Meyer-Aurich et al, 2012)

0,06 € per broiler

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Radiant floor heating system

Hot water distributionDifferent types of Boilers: biomass, gas, diesel

Expectable advantages

Temperature uniformity

Homogeneous distribution of birds

Adequate temperature at animal level since the beginning

Dryer bed materials

Saving of 40-50% bed materials

Lower bacteria population

Lower NH3 concentration (air quality)

Expectable advantages

Reduction of pododermatitis

Reduction of bounce rate at slaughterhouse

Birds uniformity

Better industrial yield

Expectable advantages

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• The aviary is located in the Ribatejo & Oeste region with a production of 38 000 broilers per flock, 5.5 flocks per year;

• The production cycle lasts between 31 and 36 days;• The poultry house area is 1920 m2, with 20 broilers per m2. The walls

and roof are insulated (thermal resistance 2 m2K/W) and the floor is littered with rice husk;

• Environmental control is achieved with mechanical ventilation, pad-and-fan cooling system and radiant floor;

• After each cycle, manure is removed and cleaning and disinfection are performed.

Some results

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0%

66%

1%0%

10%

1%

1%21%

0%

Energy input distribution

Poultryindustrial feedbedding strawwater usebuildings - electricity - ventilationbuildings - electricity - iluminationbuildings - electricity - heatingBiomass heatingmanure

Some results

0,03 € per broiler

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Some results

0,02,04,06,08,0

10,012,014,0

Flock1 Flock2 Flock3 Flock4 Flock5

Specific energy (GJ/t)

11,4 GJ/t floor heating13 GJ/t air heaters

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Some results

0,0

0,5

1,0

1,5

2,0

flock1 flock2 flock3 flock4 flock5

Feed Conversion (kg/kg)

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Some results

0,0%

1,0%

2,0%

3,0%

4,0%

5,0%

6,0%

flock1 flock2 flock3 flock4 flock5

Mortality Rate

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Some results

0,0

0,5

1,0

1,5

2,0

2,5

flock1 flock2 flock3 flock4 flock5

Average slaughter weight (kg)

Building with 120 m × 16 m

Custos Normais de Aquecimento (RAVICONFORT)0,023 €

Data Entrada Frangos Pellets KgCusto Kg

Euro/Aquecimento por Bando

Media €Bando

04‐04‐2013 40000 Bando 1 4750 0,15 712,50 € 0,018

31‐05‐2013 40000 Bando 2 6320 0,15 948,00 € 0,024

19‐07‐2013 38000 Bando 3 5060 0,14 708,40 € 0,019

20‐09‐2013 37500 Bando 4 6490 0,14 908,60 € 0,024

28‐11‐2013 38500 Bando 5 7800 0,15 1.170,00 € 0,030

Integrado: Gil Ribeiro ; Amélia Moreira

Some results

PISO RADIANTE COMPARAÇÃO DE CUSTOS

HEATING SYSTEM INVESTMENT (€) COST €/broiler year

Hot air 11 500 0.05 - 0.10

heat generator + heat exchanger

25 500 0.025 – 0.05

Radiant floor + gas boiller

44 800 0.01 – 0.03

Some results

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Some results

Diogo Coelho, 2017

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Some results

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Final considerations

• Radiant floor heating systems seems to be a promising technology

• Systematic scientific studies should be carried out to have experimental validation on:

– The influence of the heating system on the broilers performance and meat quality

– The energy consumption and costs– GEE emissions– …

Questions?Fátima Baptistafb@uevora.pt