Evaluation of the thermal environment in growing and finishing swine housing using thermal comfort indexes under tropical conditions

摘要

> size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The objective of this study was to evaluate the thermal environment in growing and finishing swine housing and by using the temperature and humidity index (THI) and black globe temperature and humidity index (BGHI), under tropical conditions. The dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, THI, BGHI and the radiant thermal load index (RTL) were measured inside and outside the housing. The mean of BGHI inside the housing during summer and winter station had values between 68.9 to 74.8 and 55.3 to 61.2 and the results showed that during the hottest periods of the day the housing provided lower BGHI (P0.05). The THI was not accurate for determining thermal comfort under tropical conditions. The RTL was reduced up to 35% inside the housing due to the shade effect.