Effect of mixed-flow fans with a newly shaped diffuser on heat stress of dairy cows based on CFD

Mixed-flow fans (MFF) are widely used to reduce the heat stress in dairy cows in summer. Our research team developed MFFs with a newly shaped diffuser with the length of 250 mm and the circumferential angle of 150, which have better performance in terms of maximum flow flux and energy efficiency. However, how the elevation angle of the diffuser influences the performance of MFFs and how the optimal fan perform in the field experiment has not been studied yet. In this paper, the diffuser was optimized by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation of the fan and a laboratory prototype test. An orthogonal test showed no interaction among length, circumferential angle, and elevation angle. The diffuser with an elevation angle of 10 performed better than that with an elevation angle of 0, showing increased jet lengths, flow flux, and energy efficiency by 0.5 m, 0.69%, and 1.39%, respectively, and attaining greater axial wind speeds and better non-uniformity coefficients at the dairy cattle height. Then, through on-site controlled trials, we found that the 10/150/250 mm diffusers increased the overall average wind speeds by 9.4% with respect to the MFFs without a diffuser. MFFs with the newly shaped diffuser were used for field tests, and their effectiveness in alleviating heat stress in dairy cows was evaluated by testing environmental parameters and dairy cows’ physiological indicators. Although the temperature–humidity indexes (THIs) in the experimental barn with the optimized fan at different times were lower than those in the controlled barn, the environmental conditions corresponded to moderate heat stress. However, this was not consistent with cow’s respiratory rate and rectal temperature. Finally, on the basis of the CFD simulation of a dairy cow barn, the equivalent temperature of cattle (ETIC), which takes into account the effect of air velocity, showed that the environment caused moderate heat stress only at 13:00, but not at other times of the day. This shows that ETIC is more accurate to evaluate heat stress.