Use of broadband radiation to reduce microbial contamination of livestock building air and evaluation of its effectiveness

Abstract

One of the most important tasks of veterinary practice is to find and develop an effective and environmentally friendly method of disinfecting livestock room air that can be used in the presence of animals and service personnel. Currently, low-pressure discharge lamps are used for indoor air sanitation as a source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, these devices can pose serious environmental pollution risks. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to investigate the bactericidal effectiveness of pulsed broadband optical radiation on the microbial contamination of the house air of livestock and concerning sanitary positive microorganisms. In the article, the authors presented a description of the technical characteristics of the Zarya-1 device based on the use of pulsed high-intensity optical radiation of a continuous spectrum. This spectrum is generated by powerful high-temperature (10000 – 40000 K) plasma sources, developed by SRIP (State Ryazan Instrument Plant) JSC. The bactericidal effect of broadband radiation on the microflora of the air in the livestock building was investigated. The experiment was carried out in the vivarium. Open Petri dishes with dense nutrient media were placed at three points for the deposition of dust particles, microorganisms, and aerosol droplets by gravity. The results obtained were recorded after 24 h. In their study, the authors revealed a reduction in the total microbial count of air in all five variants after exposure to irradiation for durations of 14, 16, 17, 18, and 19 min. Therefore, at the 14 min duration of irradiation, the effectiveness of the sanitary parameters reached 97.12 % and at the 19 min duration 99.78 %.