UW-Madison researchers have developed an air flow system for cooling dairy cows inside barns. The system utilizes a pressurized structure mounted in the empty space above stalls and feeding areas (the plenum). PVC pipes extend out of the structure’s floor to deliver an air stream from above to each stall and spread throughout common areas. The pressurized structure is pressurized by using several fans blowing external, fresh air into the plenum. Testing and modeling have shown that the system delivers air speeds that should cool the animals regardless of the cow’s location or whether the cow is standing or laying in her stall. Air exhausts through normal open areas of the barn, venting the contaminated air to the outside rather than circulating it inside. This should provide better air quality while cooling the animals. Because so few fans are required to pressurize the plenum, far less energy will be consumed in cooling the animals in an effective way.
Cooling cows from above is a new paradigm in dairy barn cooling that should improve sustainability (less energy used) as well as health of animals (it will actually cool each cow rather than just cooling the cows closest to the fans). The system can be retrofitted into current barns. The inventors plan to build a working prototype at the UW’s Arlington barn to do additional testing.