Abstract:
Aiming to address the differentiated thermal requirements in farrowing houses—where sows are heat-intolerant while piglets are cold-intolerant—and the problems of high energy consumption and uneven temperature distribution of traditional temperature control systems, this study designed a localized temperature control and heat exchange system for sow farrowing houses based on water heat exchange panels. Relying on water-source heat pump technology (with a coefficient of performance greater than 4) and using deep reservoir water as the source of cold or heat, the system achieves precise regulation of the sow area and piglet area in the sow farrowing house to their respective suitable temperature zones through heat exchange via water-cooled panels and water-heated panels. A total of 53 healthy sows on standardized farrowing crates and their offspring were selected as test subjects. Four treatment groups were set up: the water-cooled panel cooling test group (T
1), the fan-pad cooling control group (CK
1), the water-heated panel warming test group (T
2), and the heat lamp warming control group (CK
2). Comparative experiments were conducted in summer and winter respectively to analyze the effects of different temperature control methods on sow farrowing environmental parameters, production performances of sow, thermal comfort indexes of sow farrowing houses, and energy consumption of warming and cooling equipment. The test results showed that in the summer experiment: compared with the CK
1 group, the average floor temperature where sows lay in the T
1 group decreased by 17.7%, the average respiratory rate of sows decreased by 42.68%, the average daily water consumption reduced by 44.65%, the average daily feed intake increased by 13.01%, and the number of weak piglets and stillbirths decreased by 43.33% and 26.31% respectively. In the winter experiment: compared with the CK
2 group, the survival rate of piglets in the T
2 group increased by 7.43%, the incidence of diarrhea decreased by 10.96%, and the crushing mortality rate decreased by 0.57%. Energy consumption analysis indicated that the T
2 group saved 44.60% more electricity than the CK
2 group. Evaluation of the pig house's thermal comfort showed that the system reduced the Temperature-Humidity Index of the sow farrowing house by 7.5% and improved environmental thermal comfort. In conclusion, by analyzing the application effect of the system based on the temperature and humidity test data of the sow farrowing house and the changes in the sow farrowing house's thermal comfort, it is found that the localized temperature control system based on water heat exchange panels can meet the differential temperature requirements of sows and piglets. Compared with traditional warming and cooling equipment, the water heat exchange panel system can effectively improve pig production performance and reduce system energy consumption. This study is expected to provide theoretical support for environmental control in sow farrowing houses of large-scale pig farms.