Removal of virus aerosols by the combination of filtration and UV-C irradiation

doi:10.1007/s11783-023-1627-y

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (3) : 27 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1627-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Removal of virus aerosols by the combination of filtration and UV-C irradiation

Min Shang^1,², Yadong Kong¹, Zhijuan Yang³, Rong Cheng¹(

), Xiang Zheng¹(

), Yi Liu², Tongping Chen²

¹. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
². Sichuan Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Chengdu 610031, China
³. Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Chengdu 610041, China

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Abstract

● The removal of virus aerosols by filtration and UV-C irradiation was proposed.

● The filtration efficiency for virus aerosols was affected by the filtration rate.

● The inactivation rate by UV-C was not linear with irradiation intensity or time.

● The virus trapped by filter material had a shielding effect on UV-C irradiation.

The COVID-19 pandemic remains ever prevalent and afflicting—partially because one of its transmission pathways is aerosol. With the widely used central air conditioning systems worldwide, indoor virus aerosols can rapidly migrate, thus resulting in rapid infection transmission. It is therefore important to install microbial aerosol treatment units in the air conditioning systems, and we herein investigated the possibility of combining such filtration with UV irradiation to address virus aerosols. Results showed that the removal efficiency of filtration towards f2 and MS2 phages depended on the type of commercial filter material and the filtration speed, with an optimal velocity of 5 cm/s for virus removal. Additionally, it was found that UV irradiation had a significant effect on inactivating viruses enriched on the surfaces of filter materials; MS2 phages had greater resistance to UV-C irradiation than f2 phages. The optimal inactivation time for UV-C irradiation was 30 min, with higher irradiation times presenting no substantial increase in inactivation rate. Moreover, excessive virus enrichment on the filters decreased the inactivation effect. Timely inactivation is therefore recommended. In general, the combined system involving filtration with UV-C irradiation demonstrated a significant removal effect on virus aerosols. Moreover, the system is simple and economical, making it convenient for widespread implementation in air-conditioning systems.

Keywords Filtration system UV-C irradiation Virus aerosol Public health COVID-19

Corresponding Author(s): Rong Cheng,Xiang Zheng

About author:

Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 14 September 2022

Cite this article:

Min Shang,Yadong Kong,Zhijuan Yang, et al. Removal of virus aerosols by the combination of filtration and UV-C irradiation[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(3): 27.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-023-1627-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2023/V17/I3/27

Tab.1 Basic parameters of filter materials

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the experiment for trapping virus aerosol by the filtration material.

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of the experimental device for inactivating virus by UV-C irradiation.

Fig.3 SEM micrographs of filter materials (PP-1, PP-2, PP-3, PP-4).

Fig.4 SEM micrographs of PP-1 filter materials after virus filtration.

Tab.2 Wind resistance performance of filter material

Fig.5 Wind resistance of various materials with changing filter velocity.

Fig.6 Distribution of virus aerosol particle sizes.

Fig.7 Interception performance of f2 and MS2 aerosols by different filter materials.

Fig.8 Influence of filtration rate on the f2 aerosols trapped in the PP-1 filter material.

Fig.9 Effect of the intensity of UV-C irradiation on the inactivation of f2 and MS2 phages.

Fig.10 Effects of the exposure time to UV-C lamp on f2 phages.

Fig.11 Effects of the initial phage concentration on inactivation efficiency.

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