By Bruce Longino

You have read how important I believe it is to use Needlepoint Bi-Polar Ionization (NBPI) to provide a healthy environment for children in school and at home. This is especially true during flu season. To emphasize the importance of this, many school systems around the country keep students away from the classroom to stop the spread of the flu. However, to my knowledge no schools in Georgia resort to this drastic measure. I believe this is true because almost every school system in Georgia installs NBPI in the HVAC systems serving the classrooms.

Obviously chickens are not as important as children. However, chickens can benefit from this technology. Their environment can benefit from NBPI. This can provide chicken farmers with healthier chickens. With healthier chickens, more should survive and produce better quality meat. Chicken farmers should benefit from:

Reducing Particles in the Air

There is a lot of dust in chicken houses because it is in chicken’s nature to scratch the ground. Some houses have 60,000 chickens. That is a lot of scratching. With NBPI installed the positive and negative ions give tiny dust particles a positive or a negative charge. Because these particles are attracted to each other, they agglomerate. This agglomeration cause the particles to become larger. The larger particles are then filtered out of the air or precipitate out to be mopped or vacuumed up.

Odor Reduction

Odor reduction is accomplished by the ions NBPI produces. The NBPI system pulls the water H2O apart into a +H ion and an -OH ion. With 60,000 chickens urinating, there is a lot of ammonia generated. The ammonia NH3 molecules are pulled apart by the -OH ions. Three -OH ions each remove an H atom from the NH3 molecule to make H2O. The N atom remaining finds another N atom to form a N2 molecule. So in this case, NH3 that has a horrible odor becomes H2O and N2 that have no odor. Chemically what happens is: 6-OH + 2NH3 = 6H2O + N2.

Pathogen Reduction

Pathogen reduction is accomplished by the -OH ions. These ions steel the hydrogen atoms from pathogens, making them unable to reproduce. The pathogens we are talking about are viruses, bacteria and mold spores. When they cannot reproduce they die.

The above explains how bi-polar ions clean the air. However there are several differently technologies used to generate these ions.

Needlepoint Bi-Polar Ionization

Needlepoint Bi-Polar Ionization began using stainless steel needles with an application of high voltage to the tips. This breaks the water molecule H2O into a positively charged hydrogen atom +H and a negatively charged molecule -OH. This is a way to do electronically what nature does with ocean waves and a high amount of solar radiation in the mountains. These ions are nature’s sanitizers. That is why mountain air smells so fresh. Because of the high voltage these needles began to oxidize and fail.

To improve the performance and longevity, needlepoint bi-polar ionization, manufacturers began using carbon brushes. These brushes produce many more ions because there are many more high voltage tips to produce them. The picture here shows the carbon fiber brush.

However, because on NPBPI units there is a positive and a negatively charged brush, dust begins to collect and snuff-out ion production. To eliminate this problem a self-cleaning method was developed. The brushes are “flicked” several times every three days. In case the brushes would fail over time from fatigue they are made to be replaceable. However this was not necessary.

However, only after 83 million cleanings equivalent to 68 K years, did the first brush fail. The failure was due to a motor mechanical failure. However you can see from the picture below that the carbon fiber brush was still in good shape. In fact you can see a “flowering” of the old on the bottom. This flowering created space between the fibers allowing greater ion production, but the brush never failed.

After reviewing the various bi-polar ionization methods, there is no doubt that the Needlepoint Bi-polar Ionization with self-cleaning carbon fiber brushes gives the Owner more of the ions he/she paid for. This technology will help chickens live healthier SHORT lives.

About the Author

W. Bruce Longino, P.E., LEED AP, may be reached by email at blongino@mingledorffs.com.