Date: Jul 11, 2018 Author: Lynn Grooms Source: AG Update (
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Pork producers are making progress against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus -- PRRS -- according to findings from the "Pork Checkoff PRRS Project." Annual productivity losses due to the virus declined from $663.91 million in October 2010 to $580.62 million in October 2016 according to the most recent study conducted by Iowa State University.
But airborne pathogens continue to be costly to producers of both swine and poultry. A technology being developed at the University of Michigan capable of sterilizing airstreams in livestock operations may help reduce disease and animal mortality.
Herek Clack, a research associate professor in the civil- and environmental-engineering department at the University of Michigan, has developed a non-thermal plasma device in which electrical discharges can inactivate viruses and bacteria in the air.
The device could replace high-efficiency particulate arrestor filters in livestock operations. Such a device would cost just 20 percent to 30 percent of the installation cost of a high-efficiency particulate arrestor filter system, Clack said. It also wouldn't need to be installed in an airtight structure, making installation relatively simple. Ongoing maintenance costs would be about one-tenth of a high-efficiency particulate arrestor filter system, he said. Currently producers must replace and dispose of high-efficiency particulate arrestor filters.
The non-thermal plasma device has no parts to be replaced; it's designed with just two electrodes at different voltages. And it can be rinsed off with water on a periodic basis.
Clack worked with Quantum Signal, a prototyping company in Saline, Michigan, to build a prototype of the device. It was part of a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Innovation Hub for AgBio.
The University of Michigan's Office of Technology Transfer has filed for patents on the technology in the United States, Europe, China and India.
"Our plan is to license the technology to Taza Aya in the next 12 months," said Keith Hughes, assistant director of physical sciences and engineering at the office.
Taza Aya LLC of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a startup company launched by Clack and co-founder Michael Drake.
The next step is to test the device in small controlled conditions. Clack will be working with Dr. Montse Torremorell, a veterinarian and associate professor at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Torremorell will study how aerosol applications of the PRRS virus pass and are sterilized through the device.
"We'll be validating the technology to see if it's scalable," she said.
The next step would be to take the technology to real-life swine operations where there are more variables, Clack said. The device also may be studied for control of odors.
The Innovation Hub for AgBio program is supported by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Entrepreneurship and Innovation initiative. Visit innovationcenter.msu.edu for more information.
