Open AccessDesign of optical cavity for air sanification through ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
Author(s) -
Matteo Lombini,
Emiliano Diolaiti,
A. de Rosa,
L. Lessio,
G. Pareschi,
Andrea Bianco,
Fausto Cortecchia,
M. Fiorini,
Giulia Fiorini,
G. Malaguti,
Alessio Zanutta
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.422437
Subject(s) - irradiance , optics , ultraviolet , airborne transmission , transmission (telecommunications) , irradiation , materials science , ray tracing (physics) , filter (signal processing) , ultraviolet radiation , optoelectronics , environmental science , remote sensing , covid-19 , physics , computer science , telecommunications , chemistry , medicine , disease , pathology , nuclear physics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , radiochemistry , computer vision , geology
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.