Tag: Swine production

Ten Reasons to use EPI Air in your Barn

Posted on by EPI Air

If you are a swine or poultry producer who wants to improve your production rates, it is time to learn about Electrostatic Particle Ionization (EPI) by Baumgartner Environics. EPI is a patented air-cleaning system, specially designed for reducing dust particles from agricultural settings and other confined spaces. Read more about how it works here.

Why use EPI to Improve your In-Barn Air Quality?

  1. Proven Dust Removal – USDA Studies and other test data show that EPI Air can help remove 50-80% of dust particles and aerosols from the air.
  2. Improve Animal Production – EPI Air has been shown to dramatically improve animal production and livability (See Murphy-Brown’s production gains).
  3. Employee Work Environment & Morale – Cleaner air makes it easier for employees to breathe inside the animal production area, creating a better work environment.
  4. Quick Return on Investment – Murphy-Brown calculated less than 34 weeks to get a ROI based on their own 99.9% statistically significant tests.
  5. Reduce Odors for Neighbors– EPI Air catches dust particles inside the barn, so gases and pathogens can’t “hitch a ride” on dust particles being emitted outside. Visitors and neighbors will appreciate reduced barn odors.
  6. Encourage Growth – Cleaner air can also relieve stress on animals, creating an environment that improves the rate of swine and poultry growth.
  7. Reduce Mortalities – EPI Air has been shown to reduce mortality rates (Mortalities reduced by 26.1% for Murphy-Brown).
  8. Innovative Combinations – EPI Air can be combined with other clean-air methods such as filtration for promising results.
  9. Fight PRRS – EPI Air may help PRRS infected pigs to fight secondary complications. 
  10. Worldwide Recognition– EPI Air is installed in barns across the globe. In fact, EPI complies with European standards for dust reduction with Certification in the Netherlands, and also has been invested in by the Canadian government in support of the Manitoba Pork Council.

If you would like to learn more about how EPI Air can make a difference in your production facility, please contact us today.

Global Pig Producers learn about EPI Air

Posted on by EPI Air

A demonstration of the EPI Air System in an empty tent at the last World Pork Expo raised the curiosity of hundreds of leaders in the Pork Industry, as well as Pig Progress Magazine.  Here is a summary of an article published on November 30, 2011 on PigProgress.net titled “Murphy-Brown going for Cleaner Air using Ionization” by Dick Hagen and Vincent ter Beek.

The Demonstration

What had to be shown is invisible to the eye, explained John Baumgartner, President of Baumgartner Environics (BEI). John invited guests to come inside, then activated a system which created a tingling effect on the face, hands and head. Inside the tent, BEI was demonstrating “An emission of negative ions,” explained Baumgartner – “a way of cleaning the air in pig and poultry barns.”   Matthew Baumgartner, the company’s general manager, goes on,  “The ions go to work capturing and holding particles onto interior surfaces. The net result is ventilation enhancement that results in faster gain and less mortality.”  This patented system of cleaning the air in poultry and swine barns is called EPI Air (See Video of EPI Air works  in a hog barn here).

Some History of Ionization

This not-so-new way of cleaning the air  has been around since 1842, and its most popular industrial application is used to reduce the ash loads released into the environment by coal-fired power plants. But BEI has developed and marketed EPI Air for use in swine and poultry barns today.  The patented EPI Air (Electrostatic Particle Ionization) is based out of Olivia, Minnesota, USA for agricultural buildings worldwide.

Research by Murphy-Brown

Murphy-Brown, Smithfield’s pig production division, has executed a contract to install Electrostatic Particle Ionization (EPI) systems in nursery facilities totaling 655,000 spaces and in wean-to-finish facilities totaling 864,000 spaces in their western US operations.

In initial trials, EPI units were installed in two, 2,000 head production nurseries and tested for five turns. A total of approximately 44,000 nursery pigs ‘tested’ the technology. The results were positive: average daily gain increased 12.2%, average weights increased by 9.3% and mortalities were reduced by 26.1%. Besides these production gains, Murphy-Brown also checked multiple dust size levels, ammonia, odor and hydrogen sulfide in these barns. Its PhD researchers measured a 57.7% reduction in particulate matter of 10-micron size; a 47% reduction in PM 2.5; a 43.1% reduction in PM 0.05. The EPI barns had a 55% reduction in ammonia versus the control barns; a 58.6% reduction in hydrogen sulfide, and an 18.9% reduction in odor.

 

Read the Complete Article

Read article on Pig Progress Website: Murphy-Brown going for Cleaner Air using Ionization
View the PDF of Pig Progress Article: Murphy-Brown going for Cleaner Air using Ionization