Stabilisation of incubation temperature in hot water chicken egg incubator

Abstract

In this study, the existing egg incubator at Songwe Geothermal Hot Spring was improved by stabilising incubator temperature, hence improving hatching efficiency. The improved hot water egg incubator with a capacity of 280 eggs was designed, fabricated, and tested. Incubator temperature was stabilised by a variable flow rate of circulating hot water that corresponds to changes in incubator temperature. The flow rate of circulating hot water (1.5–2 litres/min) was proportional to the temperature of the incubator. A heat balance equation was formulated to quantify the heat transferred from hot water to circulating water, incubator circulating air, eggs, and the heat lost surrounding. Results revealed that the improved hot water egg incubator had an average hatching efficiency of 89% and a relatively stable temperature with a mean and standard deviation of 37.83°C and 0.1°C, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement as compared to the existing incubator, which had the capacity of 240 eggs, an average hatching efficiency of 84%, and relatively temperature stability with a mean and standard deviation of 37.3°C and 0.69°C, respectively. Results for the heat balance equation showed that most of the heat transferred from circulating water to the incubator was used to raise and maintain the temperature of the incubator at 37.8°C. The eggs absorbed a relatively small amount of heat, which was 3.136W. The improved incubator can also be operated by heat from geothermal resources and waste heat from industries and power plants in the 50°C - 100°C temperature range.