Patent #8857376
Ventilating with Pit Fans
Those of us who utilize pit fans conduct “the nose test” when walking through the barns. The nose test determines ventilation rates by what your nose and eyes are telling you. This is not a perfect tool, but likely the most efficient and effective way to set your fan speed. When our nose and eyes are telling us it’s gassy in the pig space, we increase our ventilation rates to remove the bad gases with pit fans. However, how much “good air” is pulled out of the barns when ventilation rates are increased, especially in the wintertime? Clean, heated air leaving barns during cold weather is like a never-ending hole in producers’ pockets.
We have found that while we manage this via fan speeds, the amount of air pulled from the building is not the issue. The issue is where it is being removed. Pit fans alone simply aren’t removing what their name implies. While the goal with pit fans is to remove air from the pit, a typical pit fan is pulling air from the middle of the air space, or closest point, causing gases in the pit to mix and circulate with the air above the slats.
It’s time for pit fans to do the job they were set out to do; to remove air from the pit while leaving air from the pig space untouched. Pit fans can now work effectively with BrEasy targeted ventilation.
BrEasy is a movable plastic baffle with stainless steel railings. It is installed between the pit fan and pit wall opening. BrEasy focuses the pit fan’s airflow to draw out the coldest and heaviest gases from right above the manure line. BrEasy is easily managed with a visual pit indicator and cable turn system. The plastic baffle can be removed and stored when the manure level is high enough. No modifications to the existing pit fan are necessary.
BrEasy is practical targeted ventilation with proven benefits for people, pigs, and pit environment with a rapid return on investment (ROI).
