Abstract View
Surface Virus Inactivation Using Compact Non-Thermal Plasma Reactors
ANTHONY TANG, Igor Novosselov, Scott Meschke, Angelo Ong, Ivy Terry, University of Washington
Abstract Number: 516
Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract
Viable SARS-CoV-2 virus and viral RNA has been found on surfaces up to several days, depending on the type of surface and ambient environments, such as temperature and humidity. Thus, COVID19 transmission may occur through touching objects or surfaces with virus from an infected person followed by touching the mouth, nose, or eyes. Surface virus inactivation by exposure to non-thermal plasma (NTP) is investigated utilizing an axisymmetric electrohydrodynamic (EHD) reactor and the MS2 bacteriophage virus. The NPT is generated by a compact 0.75 in. diameter concentric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor that produces high concentrations of reactive species, which are expelled from the reactor by an air jet. In our experiment the jet impinges on a coupon inoculated with MS2. The effect of exposure time and reactor residence time are studied by varying NTP reactor flow rate. The virus inactivation is measured using a double agar layer plaque assay. At a jet velocity of ~ 5 m/s and exposure time of one minute, the NPT surface treatment offers greater than 2log10 of viral inactivation. The non-chemical and non-contact surface treatment ultimately offers an attractive alternative to traditional surface treatments.