An investigation of the aerodynamic and ventilation characteristics of poultry transport vehicles .1. Full-scale measurements

The transport of poultry by road produces significant stress for the birds due to the absence of environmental control, especially of temperature and humidity. The packing density produces a high thermal input which requires ventilation. This is traditionally achieved by using the ventilation produced by a moving vehicle; this process is not well understood. This paper is the first part of a trilogy that reports an extensive investigation into the problem of ventilation of poultry transport vehicles. Results are reported of the measurements of surface pressures on the sides of a typical full-scale lorry/trailer combination during commercial operations, together with some flow visualization experiments. These measurements are used in Part 2 to validate wind tunnel measurements of the surface pressure and external flow field, which, in turn, are used in Part 3 as the boundary conditions for a computational model that calculates internal vehicle environmental parameters. This can be used to investigate possible vehicle modifications to improve environmental conditions. (C) 1996 Silsoe Research Institute.