PREDICTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL THERMAL PARAMETERS INSIDE REDUCED SCALE PHYSICAL MODELS OF POULTRY HOUSINGS

The use of reduced models has been an option to evaluate the thermal performance of buildings. However, its use demands a clear understanding of the resemblance principles on which the relation of the prototype and model are based. Considering the importance of the use of reduced models for the study of thermal comfort in poultry breeding, this work aimed to test, in a commercial poultry breeding facility, three reduced models (1:4, 1:8 and 1:12) so as to validate the proposed relations and to find the ideal scale for this kind of experiment. Thermal comfort was evaluated through the black globe humidity index (BGHI) and the thermal heat load (THL). Under the operation conditions and using the criteria established in the project, using BGHI and THL as thermal environmental indices on agricultural installations, it is possible to predict the thermal environmental conditions of prototypes based on models 12 times smaller.