A Novel Diagnostic Method for Optimizing Vacuum Level During Milking Using a Flow Simulator

摘要

Adequate milk harvesting requires that the milking system run properly, especially the claw vacuum level during milking, which should be in the NMC recommended range of 35 to 42 kPa. A four step milking system evaluation method is recommended by NMC to check whether the system maintains good mechanical conditions for proper milk harvesting: a) observation test, b) dry test, c) wet test, and d) flow simulator test. The flow simulator test is recommended for new system installations to determine the operation vacuum level. However, the evaluation methods for milking performance have not been established yet. A novel diagnostic method using the flow simulator is proposed to optimize the claw vacuum level during milking by changing the flow rate.