Pork Evaporative Cooling Solutions

Pad Cooling
Evaporative
pad cooling
outside the house.

PolAir Misting Systems
Flash cool your inside air.

Swine Heat Stress.

The summer heat has been a struggle for people and pigs. But heat is harder on pigs than on people in at least one-way: pigs can't sweat. That means producers are responsible for lessening the effect of heat on pigs by providing the proper environment.

The most dramatic effect of heat on pigs is an increase in death rate. This most commonly occurs in the breeding herd, but can also be seen in finishing hogs during this time of year. Heat-related reproductive problems include a decrease in conception rates, an increase in stillborns, an increase in wean-to-breeding intervals, and infertility in boars.

In addition summer heat can decrease feed intake in finishing pigs, which will result in a decrease in average daily gain. Lower weaning weights can also result when sows eat less during lactation.

Getting finishing pigs and lactating females to continue to eat during the summer months is one of the real challenges affecting production. The best plan is to provide an environment that reduces the effect of high temperatures.

The PolAIR High Pressure Fog System generates billions of micron-sized droplets which flash evaporates upon contact with the air. The resulting evaporation of the drops causes an immediate reduction in the air temperature. Based on the ventilation design of the barn and the ambient temperature and humidity conditions, cooling from the PolAIR High Pressure Fog System can reduce the barn temperature as much as 20° F. The PolAIR System in an integrated system, which includes the following components.

High Pressure Pump, TEFC Motor.
3-Filter Filtration, filtering to 1 Micron.
PolAIR 400HC Temperature Controller or PolAIR Sequence Panel should the producer have an existing environmental controller.
PolAIR Stainless Steel Atomization Line with Stainless Steel Nozzles
PolAIR, stainless steel mainline
Complete fittings for the installation.

The Stainless Steel PolAIR High Pressure Fog Nozzle has an internal anti-drip check valve that prevents dripping from the nozzle during pressurization and de-pressurization of the system.

Dust Control

In addition to cooling, the PolAIR High Pressure Fog System is very effective in reducing dust, which is generated in the barns by dry feed, shedding of skin follicles by the pig, and the introduction of dust through the ventilation system. Dust control is achieved by operating the PolAIR System in intermediate bursts, usually from a timer. The suppression of dusts also helps to reduce odor.

Chemical Application

From mosquito repellant to sterilization chemicals the PolAIR system make s an excellent delivery vehicle for all types of chemicals. The micron-sized droplets from the PolAIR System covers a greater surface area than low-pressure misters and application devices. The effective kill is greater over the entire barn including higher-level areas like the truss and ceilings.

Heat Stress Index Chart for Swine Producers
By Iowa State University

The heat stress indices (HSI) combine the effects of both temperature and relative humidity, and classified as alert, danger, and emergency zones. Because different animal species and humans have different sensitivities to temperature and relative humidity, the heat stress charts are thus unique of that particular species.

For example, compared to swine, cattle can tolerate much higher temperature at lower relative humidity. This difference arises from the fact that cattle exposed to hot temperature can dissipate their body heat more effectively by sweating, whereas swine or poultry do not have sweat glands. As temperature increases, thereby temperature difference between the environment and the animal narrows, more body heat has to be dissipated via the so-called evaporative heat loss mode.

The natural capability of sweating by cattle gives them an edge over swine and poultry to rid of their body heat in the hot and dry conditions. By the same token, increase in relative humidity during hot weather will put cattle under stress much faster than for pigs or chickens. The following figure is the one relevant to swine.

The following lists the recommended management actions for the three HSI categories.

Alert

Prepare to take necessary cooling measures; increase ventilation rate; turn on cooling fans where applicable; monitor animal behavior for signs of heat stress such as panting or open mouth; make plenty of drinking water available.

Danger

Apply additional cooling by spraying or misting the animals with water (make sure that there is plenty of air movement during this phase); When possible, move air over the animals at a velocity of 250-300 FT/min or 2.8-3.4 MPH for swine. Flush the water lines periodically. Closely monitor the animals.

Emergency

Avoid transporting market weight animals. In addition to measures listed for the Danger category, withdraw feed during the hottest part of the day; reduce light level in light-controlled houses to reduce animal activity and thus heat production.