Toronto - October 27/2011:  The Alberta Chicken Producers (ACP) regulates the chicken production in Alberta and works closely with the farmers to deliver programs including On-Farm Food Safety, Animal Care, and Biosecurity.  One of the programs
developed by the National Organization (Chicken Farmers of Canada) that is being administered at the provincial level is an Animal Care Program, which includes as a component target ranges for relative humidity and ammonia levels within the barns.

As a first step in the implementation of the Animal Care Program, ACP determined it was prudent to establish baseline levels for ammonia and humidity across the province to ensure the Program is fair and that producers are held to reasonable standards.  The baseline levels will be determined through in barn monitoring using data-logging equipment in 40 barns across Alberta, taking both geographical and management variations into account.  Alpha Controls & Instrumentation was selected as the supplier for this project.  The product that was used for this package was:

QEL Q5 SMART Toxic Gas Transmitter for 0-100ppm NH3.  This unit was selected because it uses an electro-chemical sensor (solid state sensors respond to most hydrocarbons, so would likely give false alarms in a dirty environment such as a chicken farm) and because, with the optional splash guard, the sensor and electronics are protected by its NEMA 4X enclosure. 

ROTRONIC HL-NT2DP Data Logger with HL-DS-U4-420 docking station.  This unit was selected because, in addition to logging the required values of Temperature and RH using the latest AirChip3000 technology, the Ethernet-based HL-DS-U4-420 docking station also gave us the ability to log the NH3 values transmitted from the Q5 transmitter's 4-20mA output.  Using Rotronic's HW4 software, there is also the ability to setup real-time monitoring over Ethernet and even send messages to the farmers/ACP in the event of alarm conditions. 

Alpha's service department did a wonderful job of mounting these two devices to a 12"W x 9"H metal backplane, as well as wiring the 4-20mA output from the Q5 to the HL-DS-U4-420's input.  All units were pre-configured (scaling of the 4-20mA signal into proper engineering units) so that ACP simply had to configure the log session (choose a start date and sampling interval) and then mount the backplane to a wall in the farm.  Power was provided by pre-wired AC/DC wall adaptors.  All units included special inspection
stickers from the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).

Alpha's ability to provide the required equipment for the application, as well as do the required labour to mount, wire and program the equipment, helped secure this sale for 40 assemblies.  The units shipped earlier this month, and ACP has already started deploying these to the individual farms.  Feedback so far has been positive, and we have also been approached by Lilydale (who were referred to us by ACP) to provide similar equipment as they want to do their own monitoring in parallel with ACP.  I'm sure there are many other chicken producers across Canada that could use this same (or similar) package, so now would be the time to approach them and show them
what Alpha has to offer.       

www.alphacontrols.com

1-800-567-8686