Kinetics of inactivation of airorne microorganisms in a photoreactor ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI),

MARTINEZ RETAMAR, M. E; PROCHETTO, SANTIAGO D.; CASSANO, ALBERTO E.; BRANDI, RODOLFO J.; LABAS, MARISOL D.

Recife

Congreso; VII Congress of Environmental Application of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (VII EPOA) y I Iberoamerican Congress of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (I CIPOA),; 2013

The use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is one of the most widely applied technologies to inactivate bioaerosols. This work presents a kinetic study of the rate of inactivation of Escherichia coli in an aerosol, employing a UV photoreactor that was designed and constructed in order to obtain experimental data. From experimental data, in addition to a mass balance within the reactor, an evaluation of the radiation field in three dimensions, and employing a computational routine, the intrinsic kinetic constant of UVGI inactivation was estimated. Results showed that UVGI inactivation process can be modeled using a first-order kinetic model respect to inlet E. coli concentration and incident radiation. In addition, this model allowed to predict the UV dose necessary to inactivate E. Coli aerosolized.