Reducing dust deposition and temperature fluctuations in the laying hen houses of Northwest China using a surge chamber

For the poultry houses in Northwest China, the local aeolian sandy soil which is carried into by the ventilated air and large air temperature fluctuations have multiple adverse environmental and bird health effects, resulting in considerable losses in egg production. New approaches are desired for these poultry houses to mitigate the air temperature differences and reduce dust deposition rates. A novel ventilation system is developed to make the fresh air go through a surge chamber before entering the houses. The surge chamber can be considered as a particle separator that reduces suspended particulate matter in the air stream using gravity and inertial forces. It can also provide a thermally comfortable intermediate environment, which has cooler air in the summer than the atmospheric air. The performance of a poultry house with the new ventilation system and a house with the standard ventilation system were evaluated, examining the air temperature difference, dust deposition rates, and layer performance. The results showed that the new ventilation system had much lower maximum horizontal and vertical air temperature differences (1.4 °C and 0.9 °C), compared to the standard house (6.4 °C and 5.4 °C). The new ventilation system with a surge chamber effectively reduced the amount of aeolian sandy soil carried into the houses by ventilation, reaching an efficiency of 95%. Egg production rates and hen body mass were greater in the modified house and feed consumption and mortality were lower in modified house than the standard house.