For over 140 years, scientists have discovered that ultraviolet light can disinfect drinking water, wastewater, air, pharmaceuticals, food, and surfaces. UV-C light is incredibly effective in deactivating pathogens, including bacteria and viruses. Therefore, UV-C disinfection has become increasingly used for sanitizing surfaces, objects, and air in rooms and entire buildings, especially during the recent coronavirus epidemic.
A method initially used only in the medical field is beginning to play an important role in areas close to our daily lives, such as schools, kindergartens, fitness rooms, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, shops, and many other spaces frequented by more or fewer people.
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There is a clear relationship between the duration of UV-C treatment, the distance of pathogens from the device, and the percentage of microorganisms that are destroyed. Pathogens are inactivated as the target surface gets closer to the UV device, is exposed to UV-C for longer periods or with higher lamp power. The power of the device inversely affects the time required for proper disinfection of a space.
Achieving optimal disinfection depends fundamentally on the distance between the device and the farthest surfaces in the space to be disinfected. Radiation efficiency decreases with the square of the distance between the lamp and the surface.
For example, a 4x4m room will require 4 times the exposure time of a 2x2m room, even if the distance between the device and the farthest wall increases only by 2 times.
Undoubtedly, the most important benefit of UV-C disinfection is that it is non-toxic, unlike spraying which is harmful due to the chemicals used or other substances in cleaning and disinfecting products. There are no toxic chemicals or carcinogenic by-products left in the room or on surfaces when using UV-C disinfection.
UV-C light is environmentally friendly. Take a UV-C bactericidal lamp, for example – in its case, disinfection with ultraviolet light is a physical process, not a chemical one. It does not even emit ozone. Therefore, the disinfection method is beneficial not only for non-food products, but also for food and food preparation services. As a result, it is currently used as a safe and non-toxic method of disinfection for restaurants, the hospitality industry, and the medical industry.
It is true that disinfection depends on time, but the time must be calculated in the particular context of the proposed spaces for disinfection. 2 seconds, 10 seconds, 5 minutes or 15 minutes mean nothing in a general context. Faster does not necessarily mean better, as performing only partial disinfection to reduce cycle time means that only a certain number (or type) of organisms will be destroyed.
While all manufacturers recognize that time is important because it affects the availability of rooms and areas proposed for disinfection, this is directly correlated with the power (amount of UV-C) that the system/device used can produce.
Time must be calculated strictly based on a formula that includes the characteristics of the room, the type of device used (unidirectional or omnidirectional), the electrical power of the tubes (8, 15, 30, 55, 200, and 325 W/tube), and the number of tubes.
To help with this, we created a UV-C exposure time calculator to easily determine the usage time for bactericidal lamps, smart devices, mobile UVC robots, and autonomous disinfection UVC robots for air and surface, i.e. the Wolf-e Robotics products, with different nominal powers for different types of commonly encountered microorganisms.
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UV-C technology works by exposing bacteria to germicidal UV light (253.7 nm), eliminating their capacity to proliferate and cause disease. There are several sorts of surfaces in rooms where microorganisms dwell, some of which reflect limited quantities of UV-C radiation, some of which absorb most or all of the UV-C energy, and some of which are covered by other items put in front of them.
As a result, if a surface is “shaded” and not in the direct line of sight of the UV-C device, disinfection is not fully performed, limiting the efficiency of pathogen reduction.
UV robots are the most suitable solution for successfully addressing this positioning problem in multiple areas of a room. This ensures compliance and traceability for each disinfection cycle.
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We are Wolf-e Robotics, and every day we work to support our mission of disinfecting the air and surfaces in the places where we work, learn, and spend our time. Through disinfection with intelligent UVC light equipment and mobile robots, we provide the most efficient and environmentally friendly method of inactivating microorganisms on surfaces and in the air. With applicability in the medical, commercial, transportation, education, and corporate sectors.
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