OxyFusion^™ — A Disruptive Technology for Poultry Processing

BY: ROB LAROSE, PRESIDENT & CEO OF BIOSAFE SYSTEMS

A disruptive technology sweeps away the systems or habits it replaces because it has attributes that are recognizably superior.

• A disruptive technology supersedes an older process or product
• It usually has superior attributes that are immediately obvious, at least to early adopters
• Upstarts rather than established companies are the usual source of disruptive technologies

BioSafe Systems has introduced disruptive technology OxyFusion to the poultry processing industry, while at the same time disrupting one of its own products: standard equilibrium peroxyacetic acid (PAA).

We are often asked by many people why we did this, since BioSafe Systems is one of the largest manufacturers of peroxyacetic acid, with three production plants located across the United States.

The answer is very simple: it is a better solution for certain customer applications. Equilibrium peroxyacetic acid is the perfect product for almost every other application. It is manufactured by combining hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid and water, which goes through an equilibrium reaction to form the PAA acid compound. The amounts of each component will determine the percentage of PAA acid created.

However, there are some constants with equilibrium PAA. It is always going to have a low, acidic pH value and an excess amount of both hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid. Sometimes this can be a good thing and provide benefits but sometimes, it can cause negative results. Most applications metabolize the PAA, but sometimes the excess remains unused. In the case of modern-day commercial poultry processing, this excess amount of PAA can cause issues.

PAA used as an intervention for chicken parts such as wings, thighs and breasts requires a high level of product to be used. The remaining acetic acid in the equilibrium PAA formulation volatilizes and creates an odor and irritant to workers operating dip or spray bars. To counter, plant managers increase the concentrations of active PAA to excess of 600-800 ppm.

OxyFusion® presents a perfect solution to these issues. OxyFusion is a generator technology that combines 3-4 precursor chemicals that produce a different kind of peroxyacetic acid on-demand and on-site.

OxyFusion PAA does not go through an equilibrium reaction, so no excess amount of acetic acid or hydrogen peroxide is produced, only peroxyacetic acid. In fact, OxyFusion generates caustic PAA because no acetic acid is used in the formulation, resulting in no odor.

The proprietary OxyFusion process can also generate an acidic PAA, again with no odor. In these conditions, OxyFusion can generate in excess of 2,000 ppm PAA while utilizing on-site water supply and only requiring 120 volts of electricity. OxyFusion provides the modern processing plant a less corrosive solution for high PAA ppm requirements while reducing its carbon footprint on the environment.