Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority), Ireland
Abstract
peer-reviewedA portable flow simulator was developed for recording vacuum variations in commercial
milking machine clusters. The cluster in the milking unit under evaluation was
mounted on the frame of the simulator and the flow of water through each liner was
regulated by separate flow meters. By placing an artificial teat into the liners the flow
characteristics during actual milking were simulated. Measurement vacuum sensors
were mounted in the claw, in one artificial teat, in the pulsation chamber and in the
milk pipeline. Analog and digital outputs were recorded. The system was validated by
comparing the outputs with those obtained with a laboratory flow simulator and with
recordings taken during cow milking. The recordings with the portable simulator and
the laboratory simulator were identical; the profiles of the analogue signals obtained
with the portable simulator and from cow milking were similar. The portable flow simulator
will allow recording of vacuum variations in commercial milking machines during
simulated or actual milking.European Unio
