CFD Study of Ventilation Systems in Cowshed: Mitigating the Spread of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD)

Atika Isnaining Dyah; Erna Tri  Asmorowati; Luthfi  Hakim

doi:10.31572/inotera.Vol10.Iss2.2025.ID536

Atika Isnaining Dyah Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Islam Majapahit, Mojokerto, Indonesia
Erna Tri Asmorowati Department of civil engineering, Universitas Islam Majapahit, Jl. Jabok Km 07, Mojokerto, Indonesia
Luthfi Hakim Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Surabaya, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31572/inotera.Vol10.Iss2.2025.ID536

Keywords: Ventilation system, Cowshed design, Airflow distribution, Disease transmission

Abstract

The ventilation system in cattle sheds plays an important role in maintaining cattle health and production efficiency, especially in controlling the spread of disease. This study evaluated the performance of cowshed ventilation systems on airflow distribution and movement of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) virus-carrying particles using a CFD simulation approach. Two scenarios were compared, namely natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation with the addition of a supply fan. Analysis was performed on velocity contours, streamline patterns, fraction of suspended and escaped particles, and visualization of particle residence time transiently at 210 seconds. The results show that in natural ventilation, the airflow pattern is uneven with significant recirculation zones, a high number of suspended particles, and longer particle residence time. At 210 seconds, the fraction of suspended particles in the natural and mechanical ventilation systems was 86.1% and 12.1%, respectively. The number of escaped particles in the natural and mechanical ventilation systems was 13.9% and 87.9%, respectively. These findings indicate that mechanical ventilation is more effective in improving air mixing, accelerating the removal of contaminated particles, and reducing the risk of airborne FMD virus spread in cattle sheds.

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