A fuzzy mathematical method to evaluate the suitability of an evaporative pad cooling system for poultry houses in China

Evaporative pad cooling systems are efficient in decreasing the inside air temperature of animal houses located in those regions characterised by hot and dry summers, but their suitability for hot and humid climates is not yet clear. The climate in China varies greatly from the North to the South, thus, an evaluation of the suitability of the evaporative pad cooling system to different climatic regions could be helpful for the environmental design of animal houses throughout China. In this paper, the suitability of an evaporative pad cooling system in poultry houses to the summer climate was evaluated using a fuzzy mathematical method to analyse 20-year's weather data from nine representative cities with various climates in China. The results of the evaluation showed that the average air temperature inside poultry houses could be lowered below 28 °C by using the evaporative pad cooling system for over 65% of the days in one hot season for Beijing, Xi'an and Jinan, while the temperature of about 70% days could be controlled to below 30 °C for the remaining cities. This indicates that evaporative cooling pads can meet the cooling requirements of poultry houses in the regions selected and this provides a scientific basis for the extension and application of evaporative pad cooling systems in China.