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| Disinfection of Corona Virus using UV-C Sanitizer Box | |||||||
| Paper Id :
16991 Submission Date :
17/12/2022 Acceptance Date :
21/12/2022 Publication Date :
25/12/2022
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| Abstract | Since the emergence of Corona Virus (COVID-19) in December 2019, it has impacted several countries, affecting millions of patients and making it a global public threat. The disease spreads from person to person through direct contact and small droplets from the nose or mouth when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person and infect persons.. It can be prevented by wearing mask and avoiding contact with any surface/object exposed to outer atmosphere or to disinfect the objects before use. For this purpose, UV-C Sanitizer box has been designed to disinfect objects like cell phones, keys, toothbrushes, earphones, watches, and anything else that can fit in the box. | ||||||
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| Keywords | Disinfection of Corona, Virus, Sanitizer Box. | ||||||
| Introduction |
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, also called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. It has impacted millions of lives all over the world and created a huge panic [1,2]. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets fromthe nose or mouth when a person with COVID-19coughs or exhales [3]. These droplets land on objects and surfaces aroundthe person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching theseobjects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth [4].Studies to date suggest that the virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air. The Studies suggest that corona viruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment). It is necessary to disinfect surfaces or objects to reduce the chance of being infected.
Ultraviolet C (UV-C) light kills or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions. This high energy UV-C radiation is strongly absorbed by the genetic material (DNA or RNA bases) of the microorganisms damaging their molecular structure (via a process called photo-dimerization) and thereby, destroying their ability to replicate and thus infect. It is used in a variety of applications, such as food, air, and water purification. Viruses are especially susceptible to this because they have no cell walls or cell membrane.
Using high energy photons in the UV-C frequency band, it is possible to damage the DNA in pathogens rendering them unable to reproduce and thus sterile.Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technique (UVGI) uses short-wavelength ultraviolet C (UV-C) light which has been tested against SARS-CoV-2 and proven to be effective [5]. |
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| Aim of study | The objective of this paper is to study the disinfection of Corona Virus using UV-C Sanitizer Box. | ||||||
| Review of Literature | UV radiations are classified into three types: UV-A (315-400nm), UV-B (280-315nm), and UV-C (100-280nm), based on their wavelengths. UV-A rays are the weakest but they cause skin cells to age faster, also arethe standard blacklight that makes neon colours to glow. UV-B rays are a little stronger, and can cause sunburns and skin cancer. UV-C rays are germicidal (smaller wavelength) and completely absorbed by the ozone layer in our atmosphere which means it is non-naturally occurring. We can produce it though using mercury fluorescent lamps and UV-C LEDs. Recently there’s been a lot of interest in using ultraviolet light as a potential way to sterilize protective equipment and household items for sterilization [6].. Stanford Medicine just came out with a study on sterilization techniques and how they affect the performance of N95 masks with dry heat, steam, and UV sterilization as potential techniques. |
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| Main Text | UV-C Technique For Sterilization The ability to damage pathogens isn’t dependent on the intensity of the UV tube but rather the dosage. It’s a cumulative effect much like radiations so as long as you irradiate the surface long enough; it is possible to render the pathogens on it sterile. It means that the speed of sterilization can be adjusted since increasing the intensity will increase the dosage rate for pathogens.The dosage is measured in μWs/cm2 and is given by the formula. Dosage = (Intensity at that particular point) X (time exposed) In this project, three 11W germicidal fluorescenttubes are used with a rated output of 2.6W of UV-C light (254 nm).The emission spectra of UV-C (254 nm) is shown in the figure.
Figure 1: Intensity (in %) versus wavelength of radiations. This light theoretically gives 1,364 μW/cm2of intensity (by a single germicidal fluorescent tube) at 7 cm distance. The Covid-19 virus requires 5,000 μWs/cm2 for sterilization. Based on the above formula, it would take 3.67 seconds of UV irradiation to inactivate the virus. There areother factors also to be considered such as UV light warm up time, inaccuracies with the theoretical model, etcthat is why we see people irradiating objects between 3 minutes to 30 minutes. Materials Requird Three UV germicidal fluorescent tubes 11W. These are low pressure mercury fluorescent tubes. The tube filament ionizes the mercury atoms causing them to give off light at various frequencies, one of them being at 254 nm. This is very close to the peak absorption of DNA at 260 nm. The radiations of this energy are absorbed by the DNA of the virus and damage the nucleic acid of the virus and renders pathogens unable to reproduce.
Figure2: Fluorescent tube 1. Wooden Cabinet (Box Type) 40cm X 25cm X 25cm 2. Aluminium foil 3. Mechanical timer for exposure 4. Fixtures Procedure: First clean and dry the wooden box (cabinet) and put Aluminium foil inside the surfaces of the box. Aluminium foil is a good reflector (~80%) for UV light and hence confine UV-C radiations completely in the box. Then
put the fluorescent fixtures inside the box. Fix them inside the box by
drilling holes and have the timer on the outside. Put a mesh type tray inside
the box to place the objects to be sanitized.
Figure 3; View of UV-C Sanitizer box Open the box and put objects on the mesh. Close the box.Plug in for electricity. Rotate the knob of timer as per
requirement. Wait for the timer to stop. Open the box and collect your sanitized objects. Using this UV-C Sanitizer box, the surfaces of your mobiles, mask, papers, paper or metallic currency, News-paper, key, packed food items like milk, bread, groceries, jewellery etc.can be decontaminated.
Precautions: 1. Never ON the timer Knob when Box is open. 2. Use UV Protective goggles. 3. Direct exposures from UV-C rays are harmful to human beings.
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| Conclusion | The given UV-C Sanitizer box has been found very useful in home for disinfection of many household items like mobile, keys, books, papers, food items etc. At the same time it has also proved its utility in different offices to disinfect office items to protect people from infection. | ||||||
| References | 1. Mofijur M., Fattah I.M.R., Alam M.A., Islam A.B.M.S., Ong H.C., Rahman S.M.A., et al. Impact of COVID-19 on the social, economic, environmental and energy domains: lessons learnt from a global pandemic. Sustain Prod Consum. 2021;26:343–359. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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