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Pig Transport Environment During Extreme Outdoor

Temperatures Angela Green

University of Illinois

Leman ConferenceSeptember 16, 2014

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Commercial Pig Transport

• Transport Quality Assurance (TQA)

• Trailer management based on outdoor temp

Bedding

Boarding

Misting

Trailer Thermal Environment

•Challenge of dead or down pigs (DOD) in extreme hot and cold events • Need to better understand the trailer thermal environment experienced by the pigs during transport

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Objectives

• This observational study was commissioned by the National Pork Board (NPB) to:• Characterize the thermal environment

inside a loaded swine trailer during transport

• Assess current TQA guidelines for hot weather conditions

• Assess current TQA guidelines for cold weather conditions

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METHODS

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Top View: Top zones

Top View: Bottom zones

Left-Side View

Data Acq Center

Trailer Description•Manufacturer: Wilson Trailer Company

• Loading Capacity: 170-175 pigs (34,020 kg)

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Instrumentation Overview

Cross-Section

Zone-centered instrumentation

Thermistors

Zone-centered Instrumentation

Thermistors Tubes

Infrared Radiometer

Temperature/RH Sensor

6 cross-sections were instrumented:- Air temperature at pig level (14 sensors per zone)

- Air temperature and relative humidity zone-centered at ceiling (1 sensor)

- Surface temperature - pig skin - Infrared Radiometer (1 sensor

per zone) - Floor temperature (3-4 sensors per zone at start of monitoring

period)

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Transport Monitoring

• 43 trips monitored, TQA trailer management

• Overview summaries previously presented– Xiong, 2013– Xiong et al., 2014 under review–NPB Report

TQA, 2008

TQA Boarding Guidelines (Uniform)

• Varying from 0 - 90% based on outside temperature ranges.

25% Evenly Distributed50% Evenly Distributed

75% Evenly Distributed90% w/o Bottom Open

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TQA Bedding Guidelines• Bedding (wood shavings)

–Heavy bedding = 4 to 6 bags

–Medium bedding = 3 bags

–Light bedding = 1 or 2 bags

Bedding & Floor Sensor

Light Bedding (1bag)

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Field Practice of Water Application

• Nozzles mounted in trailer (TX-V626,

Teejet)

– Top: 10 located along the right side length of the trailer

– Bottom: 10 located along the middle length of the trailer

• Misting before transport:– Misting during Loading

– Misting after Loading

• Misting upon arrival at abattoir– When available

– With fans when available11

RESULTS AND

DISCUSSION

Objective 1: Overall Characteristics of

Trailer Thermal Environment Data

TQA Monitoring Trips Completion Summary

Ambient Temperature

(oC)Boarding Bedding Misting

Number of Completed

Trips

< -12 90% Heavy None 4*

(-12) – (-7) 75% Heavy None 1

(-7) - 4 50% Heavy None 3

4 - 9 25% Heavy None 3

10 - 20 0% Medium None 6

21 - 26 0% Medium None 2

27 - 31

0% Medium Misting After Loading 3

0% Medium Misting During Loading 3

0% Medium No Misting 1

> 320% Light Misting After Loading 3

0% Light Misting During Loading 2

Total 31

*: One monitoring trip experienced sensor failures, and was excluded from air temperature analysis. 14

Duration of Data Collection Phases

(with Pigs on the Trailer)

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Thermal Conditions* During Transport

Ambient Temperature (oC)

Pig-level Air Temperature Measured by Thermistors

Extreme Cold Cold Cool Thermo-neutral Warm Hot Extreme Hot

< - 15 (oC) -15-0 (oC) 0-18 (oC) 18-25 (oC) 25-30 (oC) 30-35 (oC) >35 (oC)

< -12

(-12) – (-7)

(-7) - 4

4 - 9

10 - 20

21 - 26

27 - 31

> 32

*Air temperature•6 trips experienced extreme hot condition for outside temperature greater than 27oC•4 trips experienced extreme cold condition for outside temperature below -7oC

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Animation: Air Temp Distribution During Transport

Outside Temperature Range : Tout > 32oC

Maximum Temperature:Extreme Hot (Tin>35oC)

Misting Method:Misting After Loading

Waiting by fans and misting before unloading 17

Outside Temperature Range: Tout > 32oC

Maximum Temperature:Extreme Hot (Tin>35oC)

Misting Method:Misting During Loading

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Animation: Air Temp Distribution During Transport

Overall Zone-Specific Skin Temperatures

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Objective 2:Assessment of Current TQA Guidelines for Hot

Weather Conditions

Misting Before Transport during Hot Weather

Conditions

Misting Arrangemen

t

Misting Duration

(min)

ΔTskin (oC)

Time to min Tskin

(min)

Time to initial

Tskin (min)

Time to max Tskin

(min)Max THI

After Loading (n=6)

5-12 0.8-9.3 7-18 5-11 17-16283-97

(0.6-23.8 %)

During Loading (n=5)

20-60 2.2-16 1-12 4-11 4-15182-96

(33.0–63.7 %)

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Initial TskinMisting Applied before Transport

TransportStarts min Tskin Initial Tskin max Tskin

Stationary Trailer Thermal Environment After Transport in

Hot Weather

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Objective 3:Assessment of Current

TQA Guidelines for Cold Weather Conditions

Floor Temperatures Below Freezing During Transport

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Duration (hr)

Duration (hr)

Average time for trailer to reach freezing temperature

0.45 (hr)

Time for first sensor in trailer to reach freezing temperature

0.10 (hr)

Time for last sensor in trailer to reach freezing temperature

1.50 (hr) 25

Amount of time to freezing (hr)

Floor Temperatures Below Freezing

Between Trips

Other Important Findings• Modified boarding distribution• Overall floor temperature distribution• Trailer bedding depth on pig skin

temperature• Trailer boarding percentage on pig skin

temperature• Zone-specific THI during hot weather

condition• Short breaks during transport

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SUMMARY AND

CONCLUSIONS

• For outside temperature above 27oC, extreme hot (Tin >35oC) conditions were observed.

• For outside temperature below -7oC, extreme cold (Tin < -15oC), conditions were observed.

• Ventilation patterns inside the trailer did not follow the a consistent trend over all trips.

• Trailer middle sections consistently resulted in the coolest temperatures, and trailer rear sections consistently resulted in the warmest temperatures.

• Stops (breaks) rapidly increase trailer temperature.

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Characterization of Thermal Environment

Hot Weather Evaluation

• Temperatures were acceptable without misting for outside temperature range 10 to 20 oC.

• The effectiveness of cooling was not uniform for all the pigs on the trailer, and is critically impacted by the placement and operation of the fans and misting nozzles.

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Hot Weather Evaluation

• Intermittent misting with constant air flow is recommended to achieve thermal uniformity inside the trailer.

• Further exploration is recommended to understand the characteristics of misting in a stationary trailer.

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Cold Weather Evaluation

• Subfreezing floor conditions were observed.

• Pigs were likely loaded onto frozen bedding.

• Heavy bedding has the potential to increase the quantity of frozen flooring experienced by the pigs.

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Recommendations for Future Work

• Targeted focus on attaining greater thermal uniformity inside the trailer.

• Further investigation of non-uniform boarding distribution in cold weather.

• Better characterization of thermal environment resulting from water application based on method, timing, and quantity.

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Thanks!

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