Air filter can ‘catch and kill’ the coronavirus INSTANTLY after heating it to 392 degrees – and 99.8 percent of the virus was terminated in tests
- Researchers have designed an air filter aimed at killing the coronavirus
- The device is equipped with nickle foam and electrical conductors
- The air filter traps the coronavirus and scorches it at 392 degrees Fahrenheit
- Lab tested showed the device killed 99.8 percent of the virus
An air filter could help fight the coronavirus pandemic by catching and killing the virus instantly.
The device uses nickel foam that traps SARS-CoV-2, the viruses that causes coronavirus, and heats it to 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
During testing, the filter proved to kill 99.8 percent of the disease as it passed through, along with 99.9 percent of anthrax spores.
Researchers involved believe the innovation could be used in airplanes, office, schools and cruise ships to stop the spread of the coronavirus that is still sweeping the world.
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An air filter could help fight the coronavirus pandemic by catching and killing the virus instantly. The device uses nickel foam that traps SARS-CoV-2, the viruses that causes coronavirus, and heats it to 392 degrees Fahrenheit
The air filter was designed by researches from the University in Houston (UH), who noted the airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2) is unable to survive in temperatures above 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using this knowledge, the team designed a ‘catch and kill’ air filter that can trap the virus and scorch it until it disappears.
However, the air filter is capable of reaching 392 degrees, which killed 99.8 percent of the novel virus in lab tests.
Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH, said: ‘This filter could be useful in airports and in airplanes, in office buildings, schools and cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19.’
During testing, the filter proved to kill 99.8 percent of the disease as it passed through, along with 99.9 percent of anthrax spores. Researchers involved believe the innovation could be used in airplanes, office, schools and cruise ships
‘Its ability to help control the spread of the virus could be very useful for society.’
Due to the fact that the virus can linger in the air for about three hours, the team believes a filter is the route to take – it can easily and quickly remove it from an open area.
The team chose nickel foam due to its porous form, which allows the flow or air and added electrically conductive wires to heat the filter.
By making the filter electrically heated, rather than heating it from an external source, the researchers said they minimized the amount of heat that escaped from the filter, allowing air conditioning to function with minimal strain.
Dr. Faisal Cheema at the UH College of Medicine, said: ‘This novel biodefense indoor air protection technology offers the first-in-line prevention against environmentally mediated transmission of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and will be on the forefront of technologies available to combat the current pandemic and any future airborne biothreats in indoor environments.’
Medistar, a provider of personnel in the healthcare industry, approached the UH team about the air filter who have proposed a desk-top model, capable of purifying the air in an office worker’s immediate surroundings, Ren explained.
