Development of an air cleaner for severe acute respiratory syndrome

This paper describes the development and performance of a virus cleaner for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) triage wards for minimising the spread of virus inside the SARS wards. We have been successful in developing an effective mechanism to clean contaminated air respired by patients, particularly those in SARS triage wards. The stages of the air cleaning process of this novel Cleaner include: a. A movable hood draws air into a flexible pipe that is placed by the patient. b. The contaminated air is mixed with 1:49 concentration of bleaching water from a spray installed at the top. c. Under the spray, patented ‘spirals’ are used to increase the contact area and retention time between the air flow and the chlorine water. d. The sterilised air is then mixed with water heated to 70°C at which the virus cannot survive, again using the patented ‘spirals’ to increase the contact area.e. The air is then expelled through a window to the atmosphere after it has been fully sterilised. Its efficiency has been illustrated by both computer simulations and chemical experiments in laboratories. This cleaner can help to protect patients, healthcare workers and visitors in the ward against the infection of respiratory diseases through contaminated air. Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis.