This technology is planned to be used in residential heating, air purification systems, and ventilation systems.
Experts from Texas A&M University have developed a method for destroying SARS-CoV-2 in less than a second using high heat.
During the experiment, scientists dissolved the virus in water and passed this liquid through a stainless steel tube. Then the tube was heated to 72 degrees Celsius, after which the concentration of the virus in the solution decreased 100,000 times.
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“The potential impact is huge”
“I was curious of how high of temperatures we can apply in how short of a time frame and to see whether we can indeed heat-inactivate the coronavirus with only a very short time. And, whether such a temperature-based coronavirus neutralization strategy would work or not from a practical standpoint. The biggest driver was, “Can we do something that can mitigate the situation with the coronavirus?'”
Arum Han, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University said.
According to experts, this solution can be used in air purification, air conditioning, and heating systems. The authors of the study believe that the method will help fight other viruses that are transmitted by airborne droplets.
“Influenza is less dangerous but still proves deadly each year, so if this can lead to the development of an air purification system, that would be a huge deal, not just with the coronavirus, but for other airborne viruses in general”
Han said.
Scientists clarify that the effectiveness of such a method was known earlier, but in the course of past experiments, it was possible to destroy the virus only in a period of 1 to 20 minutes.
Also, they plan to improve the invention and create a microfluidic chip that will allow them to thermally process viruses for an even shorter time.
The research was published on the cover of the May issue of the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering.