BIOSPINFIL (BIOdegradable electroSPINning manufactured FILters for housed livestock farm pollution capture)

This project proposes the development of a novel and sustainable biodegradable filter for indoor farm pollution control systems, the food product this project being focussed on being poultry. Pollutant filtration water-scrubbing technologies can cause environmental pollution, with disposal of slurries formed being stringently regulated as they lead to water course pollution and GHG emissions. This impacts profitability as farms must dispose biologically harmful waste. Additionally, 68% and 46% of respective national Nitrous (22 MtCO2e) and Methane (54 MtCO2e) emissions are attributed to the agricultural sector. Although legally permitted at certain times of year, land spreading of slurries provides significant contribution to this climatic impact. Considering this, scrubbing systems are vital in large scale poultry production farms as they remove harmful pollution that can cause disruption to local flora / fauna and increase allergy-based issues in residential areas.

Recent advances in biodegradable plastics have led to products marketed in the UK, a key example being compostable bags used in domestic organic waste disposal. This project will exploit recent additive manufacturing advances that permit electrospinning of biodegradable plastics as the base material. A filter shall be designed to capture poultry farm PM10s. Air-based PM10 dust accounts for 80-90% of indoor farm pollutant emissions, with foul odours associated with facilities attributed to these. Direct removal of PM10s from indoor farm airflow via the BioSpinFil filter would improve the surrounding environment for workers and residents close to farms.

Aerobic or anaerobic biodegradation of filters on farm premises (or nearby) will turn captured biological matter into a valuable resource, recycled locally or sold as a commodity. Exploitation of this technology has potential to significantly reduce water use in conventional technologies, this saving energy use in pumping, transport and disposal of slurries formed. This will have wider benefits in mitigating impacts to the environment through reducing spreading of slurries on farmland, and the resultant GHG emissions formed.