A technology for air filtration that promises efficient destruction of 99 percent of airborne pathogens and viruses could be of use in far more than the life sciences and electronics industries, the mainstay users of cleanroom air-handling technologies. If it lives up to expectations, the scalable air purification technology--called AirManager--will provide ISO Level 6 cleanroom air in environments as diverse as doctors' offices, commercial airliners, and pharma manufacturing facilities.
Irish start-up company Health and Safety Today is marketing the technology on the Emerald Isle. It is currently being trialed by airlines, according to the BBC.
AirManager incorporates in-line decontamination units. Air enters the unit and is forced through a "close coupled electrical field that has a huge destabilizing effect" caused by an electron avalanche, says Ian Taylor of Quest International, in the video. Quest is one of the developers of the technology.
The electrical field ruptures cell walls and bacteria die; larger contaminants are ripped apart at the molecular level, says Silicon Republic. The unit traps any remaining particles in a low-resistance, high-airflow filter capable of HEPA-like performance before discharging cleaned air.
- here's the BBC video
- see the article