Optical design applied to an effective inactivation of airborne pathogens

Matteo Lombini; Emiliano Diolaiti; Adriano De Rosa; Luigi Lessio; Giovanni Pareschi; Andrea Bianco; Fausto Cortecchia; Mauro Fiorini; Giulia Fiorini; Giuseppe Malaguti; Alessio Zanutta

doi:10.1117/12.2597087

12 September 2021 Optical design applied to an effective inactivation of airborne pathogens

Matteo Lombini, Emiliano Diolaiti, Adriano De Rosa, Luigi Lessio, Giovanni Pareschi, Andrea Bianco, Fausto Cortecchia, Mauro Fiorini, Giulia Fiorini, Giuseppe Malaguti, Alessio Zanutta

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Proceedings Volume 11876, Optical Instrument Science, Technology, and Applications II; 118760D (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2597087
Event: SPIE Optical Systems Design, 2021, Online Only

Abstract

The inactivation or airborne pathogens inside closed spaces is a critical issue that raised overwhelmingly during the current SARS-CoV 2 pandemic. Among the different technologies to achieve air sanification, the ultraviolet germicidal irradiation is a trending technique, also due to the fast development of more and more effective ultra-violet LED sources, that are expected to replace the mercury vapor lamps in the next few years. The positioning of LEDs inside cavities with highly reflective surfaces permits an enhancement of the internal irradiance and the development of compact devices. Optical simulations, by means of ray tracing, are fundamental, since an accurate irradiance estimation in presence of multiple internal reflections, scattering, light leaks outside the cav-ity and the sources angular emission distribution is not possible with only analytical calculations. Ray tracing permits to model the spatial irradiance inside the cavity by varying the components parameters to maximize the inactivation rate as a function of the air flow field. We discuss, on the basis of the experience on several related projects, the advantages of using the numerical approach to simulate these devices, focusing the attention onto the critical parameters which must be controlled to retrieve a reliable estimation of the system performance.

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Matteo Lombini, Emiliano Diolaiti, Adriano De Rosa, Luigi Lessio, Giovanni Pareschi, Andrea Bianco, Fausto Cortecchia, Mauro Fiorini, Giulia Fiorini, Giuseppe Malaguti, and Alessio Zanutta "Optical design applied to an effective inactivation of airborne pathogens", Proc. SPIE 11876, Optical Instrument Science, Technology, and Applications II, 118760D (12 September 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2597087

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