METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR DISINFECTING AIR AND/OR SURFACES

Abstract

To provide a method for disinfecting air and surfaces which provides a continuous protection of people and/or animals from pathogens a given volume, in particular for essentially 24 hours a day, and which can be conducted with people and animals present, a method for disinfecting air and surfaces is proposed, wherein a disinfectant is dispersed into a volume to be disinfected, wherein the disinfectant comprises electrolyzed and/or sterilized water containing hypochlorous acid, and wherein a dispersion rate of the disinfectant is adjusted such, that a concentration of the hypochlorous acid in the volume is continuously between 0.05 mg/m.sup.3 and 10.0 mg/m.sup.3.

Claims

1. Method for disinfecting air and/or surfaces, wherein a disinfectant is dispersed into a volume to be disinfected, wherein the disinfectant comprises electrolyzed and/or sterilized water containing hypochlorous acid, characterized in that a dispersion rate of the disinfectant is adjusted such, that a concentration of the hypochlorous acid in the volume is continuously between 0.05 mg/m.sup.3 and 10.0 mg/m.sup.3.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration is adjusted to be between 0.05 mg/m.sup.3 and 2.0 mg/m.sup.3, preferably between 0.1 mg/m.sup.3 and 2.0 mg/m.sup.3, further preferably between 0.1 mg/m.sup.3 and 1.0 mg/m.sup.3, still further preferably between 0.2 mg/m.sup.3 and 0.5 mg/m.sup.3.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the disinfectant is dispersed as an aerosol, wherein a mean value of a droplet size distribution is between 0.5 μm and 50 μm, preferably between 1 μm and 10 μm, further preferably between 2 μm and 8 μm, particularly preferably between 3 μm and 7 μm, and/or that the disinfectant has a pH between 4 and 7, preferably between 5 and 6, and/or that the hypochlorous acid has a concentration in the disinfectant between 10 ppm and 1.000 ppm, preferably between 100 ppm and 500 ppm, further preferably between 200 ppm and 400 ppm, and/or that the disinfectant has a redox potential between 500 mV and 1.500 mV, preferably between 700 mV and 1.200 mV, further preferably between 900 mV and 1.000 mV.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the disinfectant comprises at least one additive, wherein the additive preferably is present in the disinfectant with a weight percentage or a volume percentage between 0.01% and 5.0%, further preferably between 0.25% and 1.0%, still further preferably between 0.5% and 0.75%, and/or wherein preferably the at least one additive comprises an essential oil, wherein the essential oil further preferably is at least one out of cinnamon oil, carvacrol oil, thymol oil, cajuput oil, clove oil, eucalyptus oil, sage oil, tea tree oil.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the disinfectant in the volume is present in the form of a sub-micron size particles.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration and/or the dispersion rate is adjusted based on at least one of the parameters: volume to be disinfected, concentration of hypochlorous acid in the volume and/or in the disinfectant, and/or air exchange rate, and/or ventilation status, and/or humidity, and/or atmospheric pressure, and/or surface area and/or material of surfaces present in the volume, and/or characteristics of walls surrounding the volume, for example material and surface structure, and/or a decay rate of disinfectant, and/or number of people present in the volume, and/or temperature and/or pH of the air in the volume, and/or concentration of gases in the volume, for example the concentration of CO.sub.2, Cl.sub.2, ClO.sub.2, HOCl, N.sub.2, H.sub.2CO, H.sub.2O, ClO, HCl, and/or at least one of PM 0.3, PM 1.0, PM 2.5, PM 10, HCHO concentration, TVOC concentration.

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein the air of the volume is filtered and/or sanitized, wherein preferably the air is filtered and/or sanitized using silver ion nanoparticles, and wherein further preferably the air is filtered and/or sanitized using a UV light activated TiO.sub.2 coated grid producing oxygen.

8. Apparatus for disinfecting air and/or surfaces, in particular for dispersing disinfectants, for use in a method according to claim 1, comprising a housing with an outlet opening and a nozzle, wherein the apparatus is configured to eject and/or disperse droplets, in particular an aerosol, of a disinfectant, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a pump, wherein the apparatus further comprises a micro sieve, wherein the micro sieve has openings, wherein a diameter of the openings is less than 10 μm.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the micro sieve is arranged essentially at the outlet opening, and/or that the diameter of the openings is less than 5 μm, preferably less than 3 μm, further preferably less than 1 μm.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the pump is an air pump, in particular a Venturi pump, employing Bernoulli's principle to pump a disinfectant through the nozzle, and/or that the apparatus is configured such that a disinfectant pumped through and ejected from the nozzle subsequently passes through the micro sieve to form droplets, and/or that the housing comprises a cavity, wherein the micro sieve is disposed in the cavity and wherein a mouth of the nozzle opens into the cavity.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the nozzle comprises a rotation nozzle piece, wherein the rotation nozzle piece is configured to be rotated by operation of the air pump, and/or that the apparatus further comprises at least one sensor, wherein preferably the at least one sensor comprises a pump pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a dispersion rate sensor, a flow rate sensor, a reservoir level sensor.

12. Disinfectant for a method according to claim 1, comprising electrolyzed and/or sterilized water containing hypochlorous acid, wherein the disinfectant further comprises at least one additive, wherein the at least one additive preferably comprises an essential oil, in particular cinnamon oil, carvacrol oil, thymol oil, cajuput oil, clove oil, eucalyptus oil, sage oil, tea tree oil.

13. Filtration and/or sanitation device for filtration and/or sanitization of air, comprising at least a first layer comprising silver ion nanoparticles and a second layer comprising a TiO.sub.2 coated grid and an assembly UV lamps.

14. Filtration and/or sanitation device according to claim 13, further comprising at least one, preferably at least two, layers of honeycomb carbon, and/or further comprising a multi-layered cold plasma reactor with, preferably four, cold plasma tubes.

15. System for disinfecting air and/or surfaces, configured for conducting a method according to claim 1, wherein the system comprises at least one sensor and a control device, wherein the control device is configured to receive measurement data from the at least one sensor, wherein the control device is configured to, preferably dynamically, determine a required concentration of hypochlorous acid in a volume to be disinfected and/or a dispersion rate of a disinfectant based on the measurement data.

16. Disinfectant reservoir, comprising a container, wherein the container has an interior coating, preferably of ZnO, and/or wherein the container has an exterior coating, preferably of ZnO, further preferably a lamination of a ZnO film, and/or wherein the container is a double-walled container.

17. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out a determination of a concentration of hypochlorous acid in a volume to be disinfected and/or of a dispersion rate of a disinfectant, based on the measurement data of at least one sensor, according to the method of claim 6.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0169] The invention is described in the following with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0170] FIG. 1 shows a system for disinfecting air and/or surfaces,

[0171] FIG. 2a shows a cut out view of an apparatus for dispersing a disinfectant,

[0172] FIG. 2b shows an exploded view of an apparatus for dispersing a disinfectant,

[0173] FIG. 2c shows a cross sectional view of an apparatus for dispersing a disinfectant,

[0174] FIG. 3 shows a nozzle for an apparatus for dispersing a disinfectant,

[0175] FIG. 4 shows an apparatus for dispersing a disinfectant mounted on a disinfectant reservoir,

[0176] FIG. 5 shows a schematic of a system for disinfecting air and/or surfaces,

[0177] FIG. 6 shows filtration and/or sanitation device, and

[0178] FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a filtration and/or sanitation device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0179] FIG. 1 shows a system 100 for disinfecting air and/or surfaces. The system 100 comprises an apparatus 200 for dispersing a disinfectant as well as an HVAC system 10 comprising ducts 11. The apparatus 200 has a shell 12a. Inside the shell 12a a housing 12 comprising an outlet opening 13, as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, is disposed. Furthermore, an air pump 32 is arranged inside shell 12a. An aerosol of a disinfectant is ejected through the outlet opening 13 of the apparatus 200 and guided to the HVAC system 100 via a delivery tube 14. The disinfectant comprises electrolyzed and/or sterilized water containing hypochlorous acid. During operation of the system 100, the aerosol of the disinfectant is distributed via the ducts 11 into a volume to be disinfected, for example into the rooms of a building. The system further comprises a sensor 33 for measuring, for example the concentration of hypochlorous acid in the air, an air exchange rate, atmospheric pressure or room humidity. A control device 35 is disposed inside shell 12a. Based on measurement data of the sensor 33, and of additional sensors 34 of the apparatus (FIGS. 2a and 2b), the control device adjusts a dispersion rate of the disinfectant such, that the concentration of the hypochlorous acid in the air in the rooms of the building is continuously between 0.05 mg/m.sup.3 and 2.0 mg/m.sup.3.

[0180] FIG. 2a shows a cut out view of an apparatus 200 for dispersing a disinfectant, which can be used in the system 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2b shows an exploded view of the apparatus of FIG. 2a. FIG. 2c shows a cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIGS. 2a and 2b.

[0181] The apparatus 200 comprises a housing 12 having an outlet opening 13. A cavity 14 is disposed inside the housing 12. A mouth 15 of a nozzle 16 opens into the cavity 31. A micro sieve 17 is arranged essentially at the outlet opening 13. The housing 12 further comprises a connector 18 for an air pump 32. When the air pump 32 is operated, a low-pressure region is created inside the nozzle 16 and a disinfectant is syphoned from a disinfectant reservoir 19 (FIG. 4) through an inlet pipe 20. The disinfectant is mixed with air in a mixing chamber 21 of the nozzle 16 and ejected from the mouth 15 of the nozzle 16 into the cavity 31. Because of the high ejection velocity of the disinfectant from the nozzle 16, the disinfectant is pushed against the micro sieve 17. The micro sieve 17 has openings 22 with a diameter of about 1 μm to 10 μm. Disinfectant passing the micro sieve 17 is dispersed into an aerosol with droplet sizes in the range of preferably 3 μm to 7 μm. The aerosol is then ejected through the outlet opening 13 either directly into a volume to be disinfected or the aerosol is guided via a delivery tube 14 into the ducts 11 of an HVAC system 100 (FIG. 1). The nozzle 16 further comprises a rotation nozzle piece 23 configured as an atomization device 24. The rotation nozzle piece 23 comprises the mouth 15 of the nozzle 16. The rotation nozzle piece 23 is mounted rotatably in the nozzle 16 and is rotated by the operation of the air pump 32. Because of the rotation of the rotation nozzle piece 23 the disinfectant ejected from mouth 15 of nozzle 16 is accelerated in the radial direction to form a spray cone with an opening angle of approximately 160°. The apparatus 200 also comprises a sensor 34, configured for measuring a flow rate of the disinfectant through the nozzle or to measure the air pump pressure.

[0182] The housing 12 further comprises a return passage 25 fluidically connected to the cavity 31 and the disinfectant reservoir 19 (FIG. 4). Any disinfectant pooling inside cavity 31 is returned to the disinfectant reservoir 19 via return passage 25.

[0183] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the nozzle 16 of the apparatus 200. The nozzle 16 comprises a rotation nozzle piece 23 configured as an atomization device 24. The mouth 15 of the nozzle 15 is disposed in the rotation nozzle piece 23. A disinfectant syphoned from a disinfectant reservoir 19 and pumped through nozzle 16 is ejected from mouth 15 of the rotation nozzle piece 23 into a spray cone with an opening angle of about 160°.

[0184] FIG. 4 shows the apparatus 200 mounted on top of a disinfectant reservoir 19. The disinfecting reservoir 19 is configured as a container 26 having an exterior coating 27 of a ZnO laminate. On the inside the container 26 is also covered with ZnO. The container 26 is configured as a double-walled container 28. The apparatus 200 is connected to the disinfectant reservoir 19 via a connecting section 29 (FIGS. 2a and 2b). The disinfectant reservoir 19 also comprises a latch 30 for mounting the disinfectant reservoir to a wall.

[0185] FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a variant of the system 100 for disinfecting air and/or surfaces of FIG. 1. The system 100 comprises an HVAC system 10, which an ERV (energy recovery ventilation) or HRV (heat recovery ventilation) unit 36, a fresh air unit 37 and a return air extractor 38. The system 100 further comprises an apparatus 200 for dispersing a disinfectant. The apparatus 200 disperses an aerosol of the disinfectant with droplet sizes in the range of preferably 3 μm to 7 μm. The disinfectant comprises electrolyzed and/or sterilized water containing hypochlorous acid. The aerosol of the disinfectant is distributed either directly into a volume to be disinfected, e.g. into the rooms of a building, or via the HVAC system 10. The system 100 furthermore comprises a set of sensors 33, which are configured to measure at least one of the parameters: volume to be disinfected, a concentration of hypochlorous acid in the volume and/or in the disinfectant, and/or an air exchange rate, and/or a ventilation status, and/or humidity, and/or atmospheric pressure, and/or surface area and/or material of surfaces present in the volume, and/or characteristics of walls surrounding the volume, for example material and surface structure, and/or a decay rate of disinfectant, and/or number of people present in the volume, and/or temperature and/or pH of the air in the volume, and/or concentration of gases in the volume, for example the concentration of CO.sub.2, Cl.sub.2, ClO.sub.2, HOCl, N.sub.2, H.sub.2CO, H.sub.2O, ClO, HCl, and/or at least one of PM 0.3, PM 1.0, PM 2.5, PM 10, HCHO concentration, TVOC concentration. The sensor data from the sensors 33 is transmitted to a control device 35, which based on the sensor data determines the required concentration of hypochlorous acid in the volume, i.e. in the rooms of the building and the actual concentration of hypochlorous acid in the volume. The control device 35 then adjusts the dispersion rate of the apparatus 200 for the disinfectant to control the concentration of hypochlorous acid in the volume to be continuously between 0.05 mg/m.sup.3 and 2.0 mg/m.sup.3, preferably between 0.1 mg/m.sup.3 and 1.0 mg/m.sup.3. Since the aerosol of the disinfectant has droplet sizes in the range of preferably 3 μm to 7 μm, the droplets evaporate rapidly resulting a disinfectant in the form of sub-micron size aerosol particles, which never settle down because of gravity.

[0186] The system 100 further comprises a filtration and/or sanitation device 300. The filtration and/or sanitation device 300 may be coupled to the HVAC system 10 to filter and/or sanitize air distributed by the HVAC system 10. If the disinfectant is not distributed by the apparatus 200 directly into a volume to be disinfected, the disinfectant may pass through the filtration and/or sanitation device 300 in order to disinfect said filtration and/or sanitation device 300.

[0187] The system 100 may also be connected to an external server 39, for example to a cloud computer, which runs a SaaS platform. The external server 39 may be configured to control and monitor the system 100. In addition, the external server 39 may provide information on the system and its components to an operator of the system or to the mobile devices of persons in the building to allow them to evaluate the safety and disinfection level of the building.

[0188] FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of a filtration and/or sanitation device 300 which can be used in the system 100 of FIG. 5. The filtration and/or sanitation device comprises a housing 40 comprising a multi-layer filter arrangement. The multi-layer filter arrangement comprises roughly from bottom to top a filter 41 coated with silver ion nanoparticles, and a first TiO.sub.2 coated grid 42 and a second TiO.sub.2 coated grid 43 and an assembly of 254 nm UV lamps 44. The TiO.sub.2 coated grids 42, 43 are photocatalytic and produce oxygen when activated by UV light from the UV lamps 44. In addition, the filtration and sanitation device 300 comprises two layers of honeycomb carbon 45 (activated/catalytic), a negative ion generator 46 to produce negative ions, and a multi-layered low ozone cold plasma reactor 47. Near the top, the filtration and/or sanitation device 300 may comprise a medical grade HEPA Filter 48 to ensures that all particles are filtered and no residue is in the air to give an average PM 2.5 count of less than 30 as well as reduction in PM 1.0. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the filtration and sanitation device 300 further comprises a HOCl Dispersion and Tank unit 49. For control of the filtration and/or sanitation device 300 a touch display 50 is provided. A multi Parameter IAQ sensor 51 is used to monitor the filtration and sanitation device 300. Finally, a high volume fan 52 and a fresh air inlet 53 are part of the filtration and/or sanitation device 300. The order of the components of the filtration and sanitation device 300 may be changed depending on design choices.

[0189] FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a filtration and/or sanitation device 300. Air to be filtered is pushed through an energy recovery module 54 by the high volume fan 52. The air then passes a coarse filter 41 coated with silver ion nanoparticles and two layers of honeycomb carbon 45. After passing a HEPA Filter 48, the air is sanitized by UV light from UV lamps 44. In contrast to the filtration and sanitation device 300 of FIG. 6, in the embodiment of FIG. 7 the UV lamps 44 are the final stage of the filtration and sanitation device 300. Furthermore, the energy recovery module 54 may be replaced with an electronic non return damper (not shown).