Experimental study on the disinfection of microbial contamination by the microwave radiation on a typical filter coated with absorbing material

School of Environment Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

^* Corresponding author: ffwang@hust.edu.cn

Abstract

In the air-conditioning system, a high-efficiency air filter can guarantee the capture of dust and biological particles. However, the traditional filter material itself does not have the function of disinfection and self-purification. As a result, the traditional air filter might become a hotbed for the reproduction of the microorganisms. Carried by the airflow, these microorganisms can enter the indoor environment, which might cause secondary pollutions. A properly selected upstream filter can prevent the particulate pollution, while it is hard to prevent the biological pollution inside the air-conditioning system. The microwave radiation is a broad-spectrum and high-efficiency disinfection method because of its disinfection mechanism, penetrability and selective heating property. At present, the microwave disinfection technology is widely used in the disinfection process of food processing, but its application in the air-conditioning field is relatively rare. From this point of view, this paper proposes to apply the microwave disinfection technology to the filters of the air-conditioning system. First, the combination of the filter and absorbing material is proposed to improve its absorption capacity of the microwave. Then, the air-conditioning system experimental platform for microwave disinfection was established and experiments were carried out to explore the disinfection effect of the Staphylococcus aureus on the composite filter under the microwave radiation. Finally, the experimental results and their influencing factors are briefly analyzed.