Collection and inactivation of airborne microorganisms using combination of water trap and electrical technologies
Takanori Tanino1, 2, Masayoshi Matsui1, Kiwamu Kogure1, Takayuki Ohshima1, 2, *
* The author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
1 Division of Environmental Engineering Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Gunma University, Japan
2 Gunma University Center for Food Science and Wellness, Japan
Abstract
The elimination and inactivation of airborne microorganisms using the combination of a water trap and electrical technologies were investigated as a potential air purifier using readily available resources, such as water, salt, and electricity. A water trap with a single nozzle for trapping airborne microorganisms was used. The collection efficiencies in the experiment using water traps with 4 and 0.4 mm outlet diameters of the nozzles were 28 and 35%, respectively. Corona charging to airborne microorganisms just before blowing into the water trap decreased the particle concentration in the outlet gas to the same extent as in the experiment with just bubbling in trapping solution. The airborne microorganisms collected in the water trap were inactivated by the free chlorine generated by the electrolysis of saline as the trapping solution. The electrolysis for 30 min resulted in a sufficient concentration of free chlorine to inactivate the collected microorganisms completely, and the concentration could be maintained by only 1 min of electrolysis every hour. Electrostatic precipitation (ESP) collected 90% of airborne microorganisms, and the combination of a water trap and ESP collected 99.7% of airborne microorganisms. Our results demonstrate that an air purifier using readily available resources can be realizable using the combination of a water trap and electrical technologies.
Keywords - Corona charging, electrostatic precipitation, water trap, microorganisms, electrolysis.
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