Design and Evaluation of a Portable Ultra-Violet Microbial Disinfection Chamber

With the increasing interest in the indoor air environment over the last 30 years has come the need for control devices that can improve the quality of air that people breath. To answer this need, many devices have been developed and are currently in use. This thesis utilizes Ultra-violet light to eradicate the bacteria. A portable unit was constructed that contains the light bulb and fan. Two different trials were conducted: Controlled Laboratory trials and Fish Culture Room Trials. The Controlled Laboratory Experiments were conducted in order to test the effect that the Ultra-violet unit had on known cultures of bacteria while the Fish Culture Room Trials were conducted to test the chambers affect on a real indoor situation. The Ultra-violet unit was effective in eradicating the known cultures that were tested, and was less effective in the real indoor setting. As the density of bacteria increased, the effectiveness of the chamber increased, for the real indoor setting. The contact time of the chamber could be adjusted to improve effectiveness. More testing is necessary to fully evaluate the potential of a portable Ultra-violet disinfection chamber.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1997

Author dc:creator

• Jenkins, Paul Richard

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Hughes, J. Martin

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Boardman, Gregory D.
• Little, John C.

• Ultra-Violet
• Disinfection
• Bacteria
• Portable

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-11997-174614

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35885