On the single-zone modeling for optimal climate control of a real-sized livestock stable system

This paper discusses mathematical modeling for development and implementation of a model-based optimal indoor climate control for a real-sized livestock stable system. As a typical modern and large-sized stable system, the considered stable uses hybrid ventilation and low-pressure climate control strategies. Due to the main concern of the feasibility for commercializing the developed control system, the single-zone concept is adopted for modeling the considered system. Based on the energy balance and mass balance analysis, the thermal and flow dynamics of the indoor climate are quantitatively described. The models for air inlets, outlets and their driving systems as well as the heating systems, one is used to heat up the stable and another one is used to emulate the animals´ heat generation, are also extensively studied. The system parameters are identified through arranged experiments. The developed model is further validated through comparison with real system´s operations. Even though some deviations in terms of the indoor temperature can be observed, the developed model shows consistent intendancy with the real system. Nevertheless, some modeling errors can be compensated by an optimal (constraint MPC) controller developed based on this simple model. The obtained results show a clear feasibility to use a simple single-zone model for developing a sophisticated optimal control to handle large-sized climate control problem.