Swine Confinement Building near Centralia, Missouri
Project Description
- Very interesting application for ground source heat pumps to provide conditioned air to swine animals.
- Ground source was installed as replacement for high-maintenance, commercial, packaged air source heat pump units.
- Swine confinement fumes (methane & others) have demonstrated to be damaging to conventional, air exchange system components.
- Criteria for swine confinement requires 10 air changes per hour, while maintaining temperatures at 70 degrees plus or minus 2 degrees. Imagine heating and cooling a critical space with the windows open!
- (6) ton water-based heat pump unit was utilized and mounted in attached, newly-constructed pump house.
- (6) 300 foot coiled field loops were installed laterally at a depth of
- (7) feet to transfer heating & cooling energy to the ground.
- The Ground Source Heat Pump unit delivers chilled water for cooling and hot water for heating in combination with the system's
separate, piped, ceiling-mounted, fan coil units on either end interior the confinement building. - Piping fluids from ground source unit out of confinement environment, for the purposes of heating and cooling will provide effective results (lower utility costs) with longer life and less maintenance.
Above picture depict original heating and cooling system made up of (2) 6 ton commercial, packaged, air source heat pump units. Excessive capacity for the small confinement building to accommodate ineffective and inefficient air distribution. Note supply and return ducts are on the exterior of the building. Return air laden with corrosive swine confinement air essentially destroyed this equipment from the inside out.
* All estimates of cost and performance are approximate and depend upon actual use of the home and annual temperatures.
