Efficacy of Flameless Catalytic Infrared Radiation Energy Against Different Life Stages of Insects Khamis Moses, Bhadriraju Subramanyam, Dogan Hulya and Gwirtz Jeff Department of Grain Science and Industry Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 66506

 Introduction  Hypothesis: How do different ages of stored product insects respond to flameless catalytic infrared radiation?  Objective 1: Age Grading of internal insects using Faxitron and X-ray microtomography  Materials and method  Results  Objective 2: Infrared treatment  Materials and method  Results  Conclusion

Infrared Energy  Electromagnetic spectrum; radiation energy with wavelength longer than visible light but shorter than microwave  Water molecules absorb highest mid-infrared (2.8 μm and 7 μm) energy  Differential heating: insects vs grain

Current Pest Management Problems   Ban on organophosphates pesticides (phosphine)   Development of insect resistance to some of the available pesticides   Pesticides residues in foods   Lack of international consensus on some pesticides use   Ineffectiveness of some pesticides against certain life stages of insects

Previous research  Old infrared heaters used natural gas or propane gas combusted over ceramic panels with temperatures close to 926°C  Such high temperatures are unsafe for grain handling facilities  No sufficient research to determine how the different insects ages were affected by infrared radiation  Banjo thermometer was used to read grain temperature.  Wheat, wheat product qualities were not evaluated

Infrared for stored grain insect control  Flameless infrared energy is a “ green ” technology, there are no regulated emissions, only products are water, heat and carbon dioxide  Kills external and internal stored-grain insects  Kills microorganisms  It is a rapid method (insects are killed in less than 60s)  Flameless catalytic infrared heater is cheaper

Research objectives  Determine factors affecting efficacy of infrared radiation against eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of three stored-grain insect species  Evaluate effects of infrared radiation on wheat germination  Evaluate effects of infrared on mold counts  Evaluate effect of infrared radiation on quality of wheat and wheat flour and products made from infrared-exposed grain  Conduct an economic analysis of treatment effectiveness

Faxitron Age grading

Pupae of Lesser grain borer

Pupae of Rice weevil

Tunnel width (mm) Lesser grain borer Rice weevil __________________________________ Age (Days) ± 0.03* 0.26 ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 0.02 Emerged * Observed on the eighth and ninth day

X-ray microtomography Skyscan Source:

XMT Principle Source:

Pupae of LGB with XMT

Pupae of RW with XMT

Factors evaluated where;-  Different insects ages (Eggs to adults)  Distance of grain from surface heater, (8.0 and 12.7 cm)  Quantities of grains (113.5 and g)  Exposure time (45 and 60 seconds) Infrared treatment and insects mortality

Bench top infrared heater Materials and methods A Company based in Independence KS; designs commercial scale flameless catalytic heaters for specific uses

Typical Temperature Profile

Mean no. adults that emerged from control Age (days)Grain qty (g)R. dominicaT. castaneumS. oryzae Mean ± SE ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 15.6 ** n =3

Mortality for all ages

Factors and their interactions EffectDFChiSqPr>ChiSq _______________________________________________ Age6642.6< Quantity1323.1< Distance1342.7< Time1223.8< Age x Quantity6154.7< Age x Distance6281.5< Age x Time6565.6< Distance x Quantity182.8< Quantity x Time < Distance x Time184.0< Lesser grain borer

Odds of death

Red flour beetle EffectDFChiSqPr>ChiSq ____________________________________________ Age526.7< Quantity167.9< Distance151.3< Time197.7< Age x Quantity534.8< Age x Distance618.1< Age x Time644.3< Distance x Quantity18.4< Distance x Time113.3<0.0001

Rice weevil EffectDFChiSqPr>ChiSq _______________________________________________ Age < Quantity118.10< Distance1111.6< Time Age x Quantity689.60< Age x Distance6144.4< Age x Time6182.2< Distance x Quantity Quantity x Time <0.0001

Insects mortality  It is a function of temperature  Longer treatment time, shorter distance and small quantity of grain all influenced the attained temperature and mortality  Overall (by species), lesser grain borer was the most tolerant to infrared treatment, followed by, red flour beetle then rice weevil  Eggs of rice weevil were the most tolerant to infrared radiation  Old larvae of all species more tolerant to infrared energy than young ones  Pharate adults of lesser grain borer were more resistant than the adults

Current work  Quality evaluation of wheat grain, such as proximate analysis, rheological properties of flour and bread quality  Effect of flameless catalytic infrared radiation on mold and wheat germination  Economic analysis of data is yet to be done

Acknowledgement  Research was funded by USDA/CSREES-NC-IPM grant

Thank You