Tri-Air Developments' decontamination technology offers affordable protection from bio-attack

(30/04/2010)

Tri-Air Developments Ltd has launched a new patented decontamination technology that offers real-time, 24/7 homeland security protection in any in-doors environment from the threat of airborne and surface pathogenic viruses and bacteria, to counter the threat of biological terrorism.

The air purification system is scalable from a personal device for VIPs or security staff, to a stand-alone unit to safeguard a post room, for example, and full integration in ventilation systems. The technology can be tuned for constant low-level background protection, up to a ‘fail-safe’ setting for a Cat.4 facility.

The technology is an air-purification, rather than a filtration process, patented in 36 jurisdictions around the world: the unit uniquely combines three separate methods of decontamination - non-thermal plasma, ultraviolet catalysis and hydroxyl radical production. The overall effect is to simulate the natural purification properties of fresh air, creating the cleansing hydroxyl radicals that occur outdoors, to quickly destroy pathogenic viruses and bacteria both in the air and on surface contact in minutes.

The UK Government’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Emergency Preparedness & Response (CEPR) has independently tested the technology. Tests on a range of devices have shown kill rates up to 99.9999% for airborne test virus MS2 Coliphage in less than 5 minutes; 99.999% of airborne Staphylococcus epidermis within 2 minutes; and 99.9999% of surface MRSA on glass over a 24-hour period.

Non-pathogenic surrogate viruses and bacteria were used in the airborne studies by CEPR because of their resistance and high environmental survival characteristics, explains Gideon Davenport, CEO of Tri-Air Developments. The company was co-founded by the UK's BRE (Building Research Establishment), microbiologists at Promanade Ltd and technology transfer specialists Inventa Partners Ltd.

“Tri-Air will now license the technology to manufacturers, integrators and other service companies supplying the armed forces, airports, shopping malls, Government buildings, offices and the domestic market. The system offers safe, affordable protection - whether its for security or civilian staff, visiting clients or the general public - from viruses, bacteria and bio-attack; even the common cold,” says Gideon Davenport.

The protection is uniquely fast and efficient, Davenport explains, because the decontamination process occurs both within and outside the machine, to create a continual supply of hydroxyl radicals dispersed throughout a room. This means that it is effective even without processing all of the air through the unit. The process is 100 times more powerful than current methods of decontamination, he says.

Related topics:  Physical protection   Safety and protection systems 

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