creators_name: Garg,  Harry
creators_name: Ringe, Rajesh P.
creators_name: Das, Supankar 
creators_name: Parkash , Suraj
creators_name: Thakur, Bhuwaneshwar
creators_name: Delipan, Rathina
creators_name: Kumar, Ajay
creators_name: Kulkarni, Kishore 
creators_name: Bansal, Kanika
creators_name: Patil, Prabhu B
creators_name: Alam , Tabish 
creators_name: Balam, Babu Nagesh 
creators_name: Meena, Chandan Swaroop 
creators_name: Thakur, Krishan Gopal
creators_name: Kumar, Ashok 
creators_name: Kumar, Ashwani
type: article
datestamp: 2023-06-07 07:55:08
lastmod: 2023-06-07 07:55:08
metadata_visibility: show
title: UVC-Based Air Disinfection Systems for Rapid Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 Present in the Air.
ispublished: pub
subjects: QR
keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; UVC; aerosols; disinfection

note: The copyright of this article belongs to MDPI AG 
abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in May 2021 that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted not only by close contact with infectious respiratory fluids from infected people or contaminated materials but also indirectly through air. Airborne transmission has serious implications for the control measures we can deploy, given the emergence of more transmissible variants. This emphasizes the need to deploy a mechanism to reduce the viral load in the air, especially in closed and crowded places such as hospitals, public transport buses, etc. In this study, we explored ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation for its ability to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 particles present in aerosols and designed an air disinfection system to eliminate infectious viruses. We studied the virus inactivation kinetics to identify the UVC dosage required to achieve maximum virus inactivation. Based on the experimental data, UVC-based devices were designed for the sanitization of air through HVAC systems in closed spaces. Further, a risk assessment model to estimate the risk reduction was applied which showed that the use of UVC radiation could result in the reduction of the risk of infection in occupied spaces by up to 90%.


date: 2023-03-07
date_type: published
publication: Pathogens
volume: 12
number: 3
publisher: MDPI AG
refereed: TRUE
official_url: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/12/3/419
citation:   Garg, Harry and Ringe, Rajesh P. and Das, Supankar  and Parkash , Suraj and Thakur, Bhuwaneshwar and Delipan, Rathina and Kumar, Ajay and Kulkarni, Kishore  and Bansal, Kanika and Patil, Prabhu B and Alam , Tabish  and Balam, Babu Nagesh  and Meena, Chandan Swaroop  and Thakur, Krishan Gopal and Kumar, Ashok  and Kumar, Ashwani  (2023) UVC-Based Air Disinfection Systems for Rapid Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 Present in the Air.  Pathogens, 12 (3).