Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to poultry houses and to processes for reducing the concentration of pathogens therein, and more particularly to a system and process for dispersing ozone within a poultry house for the purpose of reducing pathogen concentrations within the poultry house. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     As the United States poultry industry has grown and matured over the past twenty years, poultry prices have tended to remain relatively stable. Given that the cost of ancillary goods and services associated with poultry production has continuously escalated over the same period, the relative stability of poultry prices indicates that there has been and continues to be constant pressure to develop new technology and production methodologies aimed at reducing production costs by way of increasing overall production efficiency. 
     Two areas of particular interest to commercial poultry producers, with regard to their stock, are feed conversion ratios and bird mortality rates. Feed conversion ratio relates the amount of feed consumed by a bird to produce a pound of product, and bird mortality rates relate to the premature death and hence, complete loss of the intended final product. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that commercial producers strive to maximize feed conversion ratios, and minimize bird mortality rates, as optimizing either of these parameters would ultimately lead to lower overall production costs and hence greater profit margins. 
     One major factor relevant to both the aspects of feed conversion ratios and bird mortality rates, is the ambient pathogen concentration within the poultry house environment. It has been well documented, through extensive research, that higher ambient pathogen levels generally lead to less than optimal feed conversion ratios, while leading to higher than optimal mortality rates. Therefor, it is reasonable to assume that generally lowering ambient pathogen concentrations within the poultry house would lead to improvements in both the feed conversion ratios and mortality rates, and hence from the discussion above, lead to a generally more cost efficient operation. These are the primary motivating factors behind the development and disclosure of the present invention presented herein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting the basic components of the ozone dispersion system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a typical poultry house showing the ozone dispersion system of the present invention incorporated therein. 
     FIG. 3 is a transverse, sectional view through the bed of poultry litter and the underlying floor, illustrating the ozone dispersion conduits and the dispersion of ozone into and through the poultry litter. 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the overhead ozone diffusion assembly that forms a part of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention entails a method for pathogen concentration reduction in a poultry house utilizing ozone. A typical ozone equipped poultry house  10  is shown in FIGS. 2-4. The house  10  is comprised generally of a roof  12 , a plurality of walls  14 , a floor  16 , and a bed of litter material  18  disposed on top of the floor. While poultry house floors  16  are typically comprised of dirt, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other structurally suitable materials such as concrete, wood or composites could be utilized. The layer of material that covers the floor  16  and forms the litter bed  18  typically consists of wood shavings, although other alternate materials, such as spent peanut hulls, can be employed. With use, poultry excrements become intermixed in the litter bed  18  material, serving to encourage the growth and sustain the presence of potentially harmful pathogens. 
     Located outside or inside of the house  10  is an ozone generation system  20  comprising an oxygen source  22  and an ozone reactor  24  which generates a stream of ozone gas. Transfer ducts  26  direct oxygen to, and ozone from, the generation system  20 . The details of the ozone generation system  20  are not dealt with herein because such is not relevant per se to the present invention and, in addition, ozone generators are appreciated by those ordinarily skilled in the art. The ozone generation system  20  which is referred to herein is intended to be a conventional and commercially available system by design. Particularly, ozone generators of the type contemplated by the present invention are manufactured and sold by TR10 3  Industries, Inc. of Fort Pearce, Fla. In addition, one is referred to U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,345 which discloses an ozone generating system for providing ozone that disinfects an enclosed area. This patent and its disclosure are expressly incorporated by reference. 
     Disposed in series with the ozone generation system  20  is a blower unit  30 , the output of which is divided between a main overhead duct  42  and a main litter bed duct  44 . In the design shown in FIG. 2, there is provided a lateral connector conduit  31  that turns and extends upwardly along the wall  14  of the poultry house and makes a final turn and joins the main overhead duct  42 . The main overhead duct  42  is suspended by hangers  41  and disposed generally centrally beneath the roof  12  and above the litter bed  18 . A plurality of overhead diffuser conduits  46  extend radially outward from the central axis of the main duct  42 . As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the overhead diffuser conduits are generally longitudinally spaced along the main overhead duct  42  and extend outward from opposite sides. As with the main overhead duct  42 , the diffuser conduits  46  are also disposed beneath the roof  12  and generally above the litter bed  18 . 
     The main litter bed duct  44  is disposed adjacent the floor  16  and litter bed  18 , and extends generally centrally down the poultry house as shown in FIG. 2. A plurality of litter bed diffuser conduits  48  extend radially outward from the central axis of the main duct  44 . As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the litter bed diffuser conduits  48  are generally longitudinally spaced along the main litter bed duct  44  and extend outward from opposite sides. As with the main litter bed duct  44 , the diffuser conduits  48  are also disposed adjacent the floor  16  and generally under the litter bed. 
     As shown in the functional schematic diagram of FIG. 1, operation of the present invention involves the generation of an ozone gas stream, the transport and distribution of the gas stream, and the release of the gas stream via the overhead and litter bed based diffuser components. The ozone reactor  24  receives an input stream of oxygen from the oxygen source  22  and produces, through a chemical reaction process not detailed herein, an output stream of ozone gas. The blower unit  30  effectively pumps the ozone gas stream from the generator system  20  to the duct delivery system. 
     The duct system branches into the main overhead duct  42  and the main litter bed duct  44 . The main overhead duct  42  distributes a component of the ozone gas stream to the plurality of overhead diffuser conduits  46 , as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The ozone gas stream flows through the diffuser conduits  46  and is dispersed directly into the poultry house  10  atmosphere via the perforations  50  disposed in the overhead diffuser conduits. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the main litter bed duct  44  distributes a component of the ozone gas stream to the plurality of litter bed diffuser conduits  48 . The ozone gas stream flows through the sub-surface diffuser conduits  48  and is released into the surrounding litter bed material  18  via perforations (not shown) disposed in the litter bed diffuser conduits  48 .  3  and  4 . Under pressure provided by the blower unit  30 , ozone is dispersed from the diffuser conduits  48  directly into the litter material  18 , and over time, percolates through the litter material towards the atmosphere above the litter bed  18 . See FIG. 3 where the ozone being disbursed through the litter  18  is graphically illustrated by the reference  0   2 . During the percolation interval, the ozone is in intimate contact with the litter bed material, and consequently the pathogens contained therein. By controlling the concentration and rate of dispersion of the ozone gas stream within the litter bed  18 , ozone exposure levels that are lethal to pathogens living within the litter bed material can be maintained indefinitely. Upon reaching the top surface of the litter bed  18 , the ozone gas further diffuses into the atmosphere above the litter bed, joining the ozone that has been dispersed directly from the overhead diffuser conduits  46 . 
     The system and method described herein provides a means of introducing and effectively dispersing ozone throughout both the poultry house atmosphere and litter bed material for the purpose of pathogen reduction. The system and process shown in the drawing and described herein is considered to be an effective approach to reducing the concentration of pathogens within a poultry house environment. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other specific designs can be utilized for disbursing ozone through the litter of a poultry house and into the air found within the confines of the poultry house. 
     It will be appreciated that the system of the present invention could be designed so as to dispense ozone in certain zones within the poultry house. As a part of this approach, there would be a control system for enabling selected zones to be sequentially treated. This would, of course, reduce the overall cost of the ozone generator and would make the entire system more cost-effective. 
     The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without parting from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

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