With Big Dutchman's heat exchanger Earny, poultry managers can save up to 60 percent of heating costs for their poultry house during the winter. However, there is even more to Earny: The heat exchanger also reduces dust, ammonia and odour emissions as determined by the measurements of the accredited laboratory LUFA Nordwest in Oldenburg, Germany. Emissions play an important role in many regions regarding permits, statutory requirements or even subsidies.
Exhaust air treatment with Earny
"Nearly all total dust and fine dust in the exhaust air is filtered out when the air flows through the Big Dutchman heat exchanger. Overall, this means a reduction of dust emissions of up to 30 percent per year for the total house exhaust air," explains product manager Axel Schulz. Due to the high filter and separation rates, exhaust air and emission source do not usually have to be recalculated.
The percentage of fine dust and bioaerosols can be lowered by up to 51 percent where Earny is used in combination with Big Dutchman's StuffNix dust filter. LUFA's further measurements illustrate the additional benefits the heat exchanger can provide for farmers: A poultry house equipped with Earny emitted 29 percent less ammonia compared to an identically constructed house without heat exchanger. Odour was also reduced. "These aspects are becoming ever more important for authorities regarding future permits," says Axel Schulz.
Flexible size – flexible colour: solutions for poultry houses
To date, Big Dutchman's heat exchanger Earny has been offered in three sizes for 20,000 to 46,000 birds. Now, the possibility to use Earny for two houses constructed next to each other has been added. Thanks to its compact structure, an additional building permit is not required for the Earny versions with an air capacity between 12,000 and 16,000m3/hour. Another supporting argument for permits: The new Earny versions are available in different colours and thus do not stand out from the landscape.