As the importance of provenance and production conditions continues to grow alongside quality, new methods for animal transport are constantly being developed. Part of this evolution is the fully air-conditioned transport of young turkey poults. To achieve even greater comfort for the chicks during transit, the internal climate of the transport truck required detailed analysis.
FlowMotion was brought into the project as a consulting engineering firm specialising in heat and fluid dynamics. Through the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, the entire velocity and temperature distribution inside the truck was determined down to the smallest detail without disrupting standard transport operations.
CFD calculations require a series of procedural steps. First, a 3D model of the entire interior is created, incorporating all ventilation openings and the full load. The flow volume is then divided into individual cells, known as a computational grid. Using specified boundary conditions, the actual flow and heat transfer are then generated. Through the skilled selection of these boundary conditions, a realistic representation of the internal climate was achieved.
The subsequent analysis of the simulation results clearly demonstrated that the developed ventilation design fulfilled all required conditions for the turkey poults, such as minimal draughts, minimal overheating, and sufficient fresh air. Due to the unprecedented density of data (pressure, velocity, and temperature) yielded by the CFD calculations, potential for further optimisation of the ventilation openings and ducts within the truck was identified and subsequently realised in the following years.
