Design of optical cavity for air sanification through ultraviolet germicidal irradiation

The transmission of airborne pathogens represents a major threat to worldwide public health. Ultraviolet light irradiation can contribute to the sanification of air to reduce the pathogen transmission. We have designed a compact filter for airborne pathogen inactivation by means of UVC LED sources,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2021-06, Vol.29 (12), p.18688-18704
Main Authors: Lombini, Matteo, Diolaiti, Emiliano, De Rosa, Adriano, Lessio, Luigi, Pareschi, Giovanni, Bianco, Andrea, Cortecchia, Fausto, Fiorini, Mauro, Fiorini, Giulia, Malaguti, Giuseppe, Zanutta, Alessio
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The transmission of airborne pathogens represents a major threat to worldwide public health. Ultraviolet light irradiation can contribute to the sanification of air to reduce the pathogen transmission. We have designed a compact filter for airborne pathogen inactivation by means of UVC LED sources, whose effective irradiance is enhanced thanks to high reflective surfaces. We used ray-tracing and computational fluid dynamic simulations to model the device and to maximize the performance inside the filter volume. Simulations also show the inhibition of SARS-Cov-2 in the case of high air fluxes. This study demonstrates that current available LED technology is effective for air sanification purposes.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.422437