Page 11 - National Poultry Newspaper

Energy efficient and safe wastewater pump for chicken plant
Let there be light: early
exposure to UV aids broiler
behaviour, performance
A NSW chicken pro- cessing plant went for safety and energy effi- ciency in selecting the wastewater pumps for its latest expansion.
The plant had a lot of wastewater to shift (10ML per day), so get- ting pump selection right was important.
First, the plant wanted self-priming wastewater pumps.
This would mean the
pumps would be easy to access for monitoring and/ or maintenance, and im- portantly, operators would not be exposed to open wet wells and confined space issues when performing maintenance duties as would be the case with submersible pumps.
And when the effi- ciency numbers were ‘crunched’, the Gorman- Rupp V6A60-B Ultra V Series pump was the clear
winner when compared with other 6” pumps on the market.
At the particular duty point, the V6 could deliv- er a hydraulic efficiency of 68 percent compared to the best any other man- ufacturer could offer of 55 percent.
Based on an energy price of $0.21 per kWh, the savings worked out to be a staggering $3875 per annum, or $38,750 for a
10-year period (excluding an allowance for infla- tion), or $96,875 over the expected 25-year life cy- cle of the pump.
Safety, efficiency and ease of maintenance were the drivers in the development of Gorman- Rupp’s Ultra V Series pump range.
A pressure relief valve vents excessive pressure if a valve is inadvertently closed, and as a second
‘fail-safe’, the non-return suction flap valve has a built-in burst disc.
As well as this, the fill port of the pump has a shield to divert flow to the ground (instead of out- wards) if an operator inad- vertently opens it while the pump is still pressurised.
Operators will also ap- preciate the ease with which the pump can be maintained.
Some of these factors are as follows:
• Pusher-bolt system on the inspection cover-plate to make it easy to remove;
• Pusher-bolt capability on the rotating assembly;
• Shim-less external ad- justment of internal pump clearances (done in four minutes without exposure to the pumped media);
• Inspection and/or re- placement of the suction flap valve without opening the pump cover-plate; and
• Instant visual of seal and bearing oil through external sight glasses.
Gorman-Rupp’s Ultra V Series offers asset owners the most efficient, safest and easiest to maintain wastewater pump.
The V6 can deliver flows to 120l/ps and pres- sures to 95m.
Smaller pumps in the range can cater for lower f lows.
The pump range is also available with a choice of materials for the wearing parts, including hardened iron, 316SS and duplex stainless steel.
www.hydroinnovations. com.au
ADDING windows to poultry houses is an inexpensive way to improve the envi- ronment for broilers and possibly improve productivity, accord- ing to Rachel Lynn Dennis, PhD, assis- tant professor at the University of Mary- land, US.
Ultraviolet light is a part of natural light, which birds use for so- cial cues and for feed- ing.
However, Dr Dennis said most traditional houses do not have windows and provide white light only.
Dennis was curious about the effects of UV light on broilers when they’re exposed at different stages of development and, con- sequently, designed a study with four groups of birds:
• Birds with UV light only for the first three weeks of life;
• Birds with UV light only at weeks four and five of life;
• Birds with UV light for the entire five weeks starting at day- of-age; and
• Birds with no UV light.
All groups had the same white light in their environment.
Chickens with UV light consistently ate more and didn’t forage
in areas with no food compared to those with only white light, she said.
UV light reduced the birds’ ‘fear response’ – they didn’t move far away when a new person walked into the house, which they did with only white light.
That’s positive, Dr Dennis said, because it’s not good for birds to be easily startled, which can lead to run- ning and injuries.
She concluded that broilers prefer UV or UV/white light to white light only.
The study also re- vealed differences based on when UV light was introduced.
Exposure throughout the growing period made birds more com- fortable with differ- ent intensity levels of white light.
Birds with UV light only for the first three weeks preferred low- intensity white light.
Birds exposed in weeks four and five preferred high-intensi- ty white light, Dr Den- nis said.
Providing birds natu- ral UV light enriches the birds’ entire envi- ronment – they get to see more of it.
Some companies are increasingly adding windows to poultry houses.
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National Poultry Newspaper, August 2018 – Page 11