Inactivation of airborne viruses using a packed bed non-thermal plasma reactor

Abstract

Outbreaks of airborne infectious diseases such as measles or severe acute respiratory syndrome can cause significant public alarm. Where ventilation systems facilitate disease transmission to humans or animals, there exists a need for control measures that provide effective protection while imposing minimal pressure differential. In the present study, viral aerosols in an airstream were subjected to non-thermal plasma (NTP) exposure within a packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor. Comparisons of plaque assays before and after NTP treatment found exponentially increasing inactivation of aerosolized MS2 phage with increasing applied voltage. At 30 kV and an air flow rate of 170 standard liters per minute, a greater than 2.3 log reduction of infective virus was achieved across the reactor. This reduction represented ~2 log of the MS2 inactivated and ~0.35 log physically removed in the packed bed. Increasing the air flow rate from 170 to 330 liters per minute did not significantly impact virus inactivation effectiveness. Activated carbon-based ozone filters greatly reduced residual ozone, in some cases down to background levels, while adding less than 20 Pa pressure differential to the 45 Pa differential pressure across the packed bed at the flow rate of 170 standard liters per minute.

Preparation of the inactivated Newcastle disease vaccine by plasma activated water and evaluation of its protection efficacy

“…It was speculated that a series of chemical reactions occurred in the system of PAW and allantoic fluid system. It has been realized that varieties of ROS in cold plasma could destroy the viral envelope protein and damage the nucleic acid, thus leading to virus inactivation (Guo et al 2018;Morita et al 2000;Su et al 2018;Tagawa et al 2000;Wu et al 2015;Xia et al 2019), which was in a good agreement with our results.…”

Ozone efficacy for the control of airborne viruses: Bacteriophage and norovirus models

“…Indeed, because ozone has virucidal properties in water, the quantification of this effect had to be assessed so that a mathematical correction could be applied. It has also been previously found that ozone had an effect on MS2 infectivity in a liquid impinger [70]. Experiments were performed in duplicate.…”

Rapid inactivation of airborne porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus using an atmospheric pressure air plasma

“…Although plasmas have been extensively investigated for the inactivation of liquid, food, and surface‐borne pathogens, [ 48–57 ] only a handful of studies showing inactivation efficacy of plasmas against airborne pathogens have been conducted, and even less concerning airborne viruses. [ 58,59 ] Previously, the use of cold oxygen plasma in a single‐pass flow tunnel resulted in 3.1, 2, and 2.1 log 10 TCID 50 /ml reductions in human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV‐3), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza virus A (H5N2) titers, respectively. [ 60 ] In another study, >95% inactivation of aerosolized MS2 bacteriophage was achieved in ambient air with a plasma power and exposure of 28 W and 0.12 s, respectively.…”

“…[ 60 ] In another study, >95% inactivation of aerosolized MS2 bacteriophage was achieved in ambient air with a plasma power and exposure of 28 W and 0.12 s, respectively. [ 59 ] Recently, Xia et al [ 58 ] reported >2.3 log 10 reduction in the infectivity of MS2 bacteriophage using a packed bed nonthermal plasma reactor at an airflow rate of 170 standard liters per minute (slm).…”