MOP FAN FOR LIVESTOCK BUILDINGS

The paper describes a novel mop fan with flexible fibre impeller for use in livestock buildings. The mop is irrigated with a continuous supply of water to the eye of the shaft via a narrow bore pipe. The fan is designed to remove particulate and gaseous pollutants from air, without resorting to filters, and may have potential for ventilating livestock buildings. The simplicity of the fan should allow its construction at low cost. The mop fan was tested to determine its effectiveness for particle removal. Tests were carried out at different fan speeds and water injection rates using wood dust with particles ranging from 0.5 to 100 mu m. Results indicated that particle removal was more effective for higher water injection rates, higher fan speeds and the larger particles. At the typical fan speed of 700 rev/min, the percentage of particles removed ranged between 92 and 99%, depending on the particle size when the water flow rate was 2.5 ml/s. A problem of dust build-up within the fan casing remains to be solved. (C) 1995 Silsoe Research Institute