DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENT TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF AN EGG INCUBATOR SYSTEM

Abstract

To meet the high demand for poultry production, artificial egg hatching is needed. An

incubator is a device that is used to successfully hatch fertile eggs under suitable

environmental conditions by regulating the temperature and humidity of the enclosure.

Temperature and humidity are the parameters that are controlled in hatching egg

incubators in the poultry industry worldwide. There are two types of incubators:

conventional and automatic egg incubators. Incubation conditions depend on the

hatchability of the birds. Inappropriate temperature and humidity levels result in

unwanted conditions during incubation. So, temperature and humidity control in an

incubator are critical during incubation. The source of power in an incubator is electrical

energy. The proper use of energy is an important factor. Controlling the temperature of an

egg incubator system can reduce electrical energy consumption. In this research, different

kinds of incubators have been discussed, and a new energy-saving egg incubator has been

introduced. The possibility of the most suitable temperature for hatching an egg is about

35–40 °C; however, the optimum temperature should be kept at 37.5°C and humidity

should be kept at 55%–60% during the 21 days of incubation. A normal conventional

controller is usually used in the local poultry farms. The power consumption was about

56.08 kWh during the 21 days of incubation. For energy savings, a PID Control System

was used with an Arduino UNO AT Mega 328P Microcontroller. Power consumption

was recorded at 44.77 kWh during the 21 days of Incubation. For further development of

the temperature control of this system, a fuzzy-PID controller is used and simulated,

which has improved the temperature rise time and settling time compared to the

conventional egg incubator. During the experimental operation, the power consumed was

about 41.58 kWh for 21 days of Incubation. The result shows that PID control is more

energy efficient than conventional controllers. However, Fuzzy-PID is more energy

efficient than a PID Controller. Finally, it is found that a lot of energy has been saved

because of the use of Fuzzy-PID and PID controllers instead of conventional controller