Italian manufacturer, Durst, is well known for its advanced printing and ink technologies and now it has used its expertise to develop a range of air disinfection systems that it says irradiates infectious aerosols, viruses and germs in indoor environments.

The UVC-R Air Disinfection System can also be personalised in such a way thanks to Durst’s printing technologies that the units can appear as art works in any number of environments from banks, school class rooms, museums and office buildings.

To watch Durst Group CEO Christoph Gamper discuss the new system in a short 15 minute video, please click here.

The UVC-R Air Disinfection System operates by effectively sucking air from within rooms into an antiviral membrane where it is cleansed with irradiated UV-C light before the disinfected air is then released back into the room through an air outlet.

The devices also are whisper quiet creating a typical noise level of 25 dB (A).

Durst co-owner and CEO Christoph Gamper launched the new range in an online presentation last week and said the technology builds on the company’s community masks that it began to produce in April when the scale of COVID-19 was fully realised.

“We checked the efficiency of the UV-C sources in our laboratories and analysed the ideal exposure time and volumetric flow,” Gamper said.

“An external laboratory for medical technology and disinfectants in Germany is currently in the process of verifying our results. At the same time, the efficiency of the Durst UVC-R is tested in real mode with “pseudoviruses” or so-called bacteriophages.”

How the UVC-R Air Disinfection System was devised

To come up with this new technology, Durst Labs studied the main transmission paths and descent rates of droplets and aerosols that transport virus-containing liquid particles. The effectiveness of countermeasures with continuous air exchange and UV irradiation were also measured.

The end result was the Durst UVC-R system which combines both air exchange and UV irradiation in one system, effectively reducing infectious aerosols, viruses and germs in indoor environments. Through an antiviral membrane, the room air is led into a clos

ed system and irradiated with UV-C light.

The disinfected air is continuously released back into the room through an air outlet.

Special features of the Durst UVC-R

• Closed, radiation-protected chambers with high-performance UV-C modules in airflow-optimized and mirrored channels.
• Generation of ozone-free UV-C radiation with a wavelength of 254 nanometers.
• Suction nozzles over the entire surface on both sides of the system at the level of the aerosol origin
• Antiviral coating of the membrane surface.
• Whisper-quiet with a typical noise level of 25 dB (A).

Disinfection Zone

The UVC-R’s centre disinfection zone measures 4 by 4 by 2.5 metres but Durst says no specific statement about square metres or volume size can be given as a general answer in terms of efficiency, as the efficiency depends on many factors including temperature, air flows in the room, ceiling height and number of people etc.

But Durst does provide the following example for efficiency: four people sit at a table and are surrounded by a volume of eight m³. Each person inhales and exhales about 0.5 m³ of air per hour, a total of 2 m³. Durst UVC-R disinfects 12.5 times this volume or 25 m³ in 15 minutes and 50 times the breathing volume of 4 people or 100 m³ in one hour.

If the UVC-R is placed in a larger room, a constant mixing of the room air around the disinfection center is taking place, which means that by the permanent release of purified air the viral load is reduced even outside the central zone.

Preventative measure

“We see in Durst UVC-R not only a preventive measure to reduce the viral loads,” Gamper said.

“Together with the South Tyrolean industrial designer Christian Zanzotti we have developed a portfolio, that can harmoniously be integrated into many interior concepts.

Furthermore, the anti-viral coated membrane can be personalized with our digital printing systems.”

The units are now available for pre-order on www.durst-group.com/uvcr.

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