Date: Nov 06, 2018 Source: (
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Herek Clack has developed a new and less expensive way to protect pigs from devastating viral and bacterial-based diseases. His non-thermal plasma device produces electric discharges that sterilize incoming air, killing airborne viruses and microbes.
"We use the electric field to break apart oxygen and water molecules," explains Clack, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan. "We use those ions to attack the viruses and bacteria."
Proven in the lab, the device will now be tested in parallel with an exhaust fan in a hog barn. Clack will be working with a University of Minnesota veterinarian and associate professor to validate the technology and scale it up for commercial use.
"The system could be used to treat air being drawn in to protect animals inside a facility or air being pushed out, protecting people and animals outside the facility," says Clack.
Confident the technology is needed by the pork industry, Clack and Michael Drake recently started a company to continue development.
If proven effective in barns, the system will be much more cost effective than current particulate arrestor filters. The main cost of Clack's system is in its voltage amplifiers and rectifiers.
"Based on the prototype, we estimate the price would be about a third the cost of a current filtration system, and maintenance would be one tenth," says Clack. "Current systems have to replace filters. Ours has just 2 electrodes that can be rinsed off periodically."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Herek Clack, Taza Aya, LLC (ph 312 375-5692; herek@taza-aya.com) or Michael Drake (ph 734 417-9639; mike@taza-aya.com).
