Installation ECO Zero in Canada

You can normally find our colleague Thijs van Beers in the Research & Development department at the Venco Campus in Eersel. For the next few months, however, he can be found in America and Canada, where he is focusing on climate-related assignments, related to the ECO Units.

*This is an LPR (Limited Production Run) project, and is therefore part of an ongoing development. The aim is to test the ECO Zero APF under field conditions, with a view to releasing it later. 

What Thijs' days look like

'The work here consists of training both colleagues, customers and dealers in use and installation of the ECO Units. The aim of this is to collectively ensure that the machine runs as it is intended, enabling customers to achieve an optimal barn climate, resulting in good animal results.’ He is also contributing to the commissioning of some projects with heat exchangers for minimum ventilation, ECO Zero and also ECO Zero APF (Air Pathogen Free): ‘ECO Zero APF is our latest development in climate conditioning for poultry houses. APF stands for ‘Air Pathogen Free’, which means we filter out as many particles as possible from the incoming fresh air before it reaches the animals in the house. We do this to reduce disease pressure on the animals.’ This involves adding filters in the ECO Unit, which also requires the use of a different type of blow-in fan that is more powerful than the standard one. ‘In addition, there are additional sensors on the unit to make sure it ventilates exactly as we want it to.’

In practice

At the end of August, Thijs focused on the commissioning of the ECO Zero APF at Harhill.

Friday 23 & Saturday 24 August

‘We first met our client Craig, his son Jordan and the technical trio who did the installation (with help from the Netherlands). Then we got to work with the electricians.’ Thijs was able to make good use of these days to test all the sensors, fans and part of the flushing system. Then they made a first step with the climate computer programme.

Maandag 26 augustus

'Given the size of the project and my fledgling experience in certain areas, my colleague Guus came from the Netherlands to get the project done together. From Monday, we also got help from the dealer (Penner Farm Services), After Sales and the electrician. They were on site all week, helping out as much as possbile and learning from the units.'

Tuesday 27 & Wednesday 28 August

After a few days, the plumber also joined the team. ‘He fixed the water supply to the units, and connected the gas for the pre-heaters so we could test this. These days we were able to run all the fans fully for the first time, which also allowed us to test the foil hose (through which the air enters the barn).’ A big step was also taken with programming the climate computer.

The ECO Units are equipped with a snow cover; to keep snow out of the unit and have room for the pre-heater. A pre-heater is a gas heater that prevents the water that forms around the fins of the heat exchanger, due to condensation, from freezing.

Thursday 29 August

This day was all about installing all the filters and test running all the technology. ‘The first of the two filter stages, besides the standard filter cloth that prevents dust from entering the fins, are bag filters. These already remove a large proportion of particles from the air.’

Friday 30 August

A project is (almost) never 100% flawless. ‘We desperately needed our time, including (electrical) technical challenges. Fortunately, Dion was able to help us from Australia. The advantage of today's technology; you can log on and control a climate computer on the other side of the world!’ 

Besides filtering incoming air, the ECO Zero climate concept allows us to ventilate the barn year-round. In addition, the units are equipped with an automatic flushing system that also allows cooling. 

Saturday 31 August

This day the user training was scheduled: ‘The customer and his staff were instructed in the use of the unit. All technical parts were explained such as checking the filter cloth, the water tank of the flushing system, the bag filters and, of course, keeping an eye on whether the units remain alarm-free. The use of the climate computer was also explained.’

After the visit, apart from some tidying up, the barn was ready for the open day 5 September and for the arrival of the laying hens on 18 September. ‘I moved on again towards the office in America to teach our colleagues there more about the ECO Units. After this, a number of customer visits are planned with colleagues and the dealers involved.’