Design and performance evaluation of a photocatalytic reactor for indoor air disinfection
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ADVANCED OXIDATION/REDUCTION TECHNOLOGIES: AN PERSPECTIVE FROM IBEROAMERICAN COUNTRIES
Design and performance evaluation of a photocatalytic reactor for indoor air disinfection Silvia Mercedes Zacarías 1
&
Agustina Manassero 1 & Silvana Pirola 1 & Orlando Mario Alfano 1 & María Lucila Satuf 1
Received: 29 July 2020 / Accepted: 12 November 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Since COVID-19 pandemic, indoor air quality control has become a priority, and the development of air purification devices effective for disinfecting airborne viruses and bacteria is of outmost relevance. In this work, a photocatalytic device for the removal of airborne microorganisms is presented. It is an annular reactor filled with TiO2-coated glass rings and irradiated internally and externally by UV-A lamps. B. subtilis spores and vegetative cells have been employed as model biological pollutants. Three types of assays with aerosolized bacterial suspensions were performed to evaluate distinct purification processes: filtration, photocatalytic inactivation in the air phase, and photocatalytic inactivation over the TiO2-coated rings. The radiation distribution inside the reactor was analysed by performing Monte Carlo simulations of photon absorption in the photocatalytic bed. Complete removal of a high load of microorganisms in the air stream could be achieved in 1 h. Nevertheless, inactivation of retained bacteria in the reactor bed required longer irradiation periods: after 8 h under internal and external irradiation, the initial concentration of retained spores and vegetative cells was reduced by 68% and 99%, respectively. Efficiency parameters were also calculated to evaluate the influence of the irradiation conditions on the photocatalytic inactivation of bacteria attached at the coated rings. Keywords Bioaerosols . Air purification device . Packed bed . Photocatalysis . Efficiency parameters . Radiation absorption
Introduction For many years, efforts from the scientific community have been conducted towards the development of efficient indoor air purification technologies. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reported in 1989 the potential impact on human health of indoor air pollution. This concern was mainly due to the fact that people in industrialized societies spend approximately 90% of their time indoors (U.S. EPA 1989), where the concentrations of pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations.
Responsible Editor: Sami Rtimi * Silvia Mercedes Zacarías [email protected] 1
Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (INTEC, UNL-CONICET), Colectora RN 168 Km 472, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina
Indeed, indoor air quality control is now a priority, since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) has impacted in most countries around the world. Millions of positives cases have been reported, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Therefore, the development of air purification devices effective for di
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