The first mobile units of a new air purifier—with a heated nickel-foam filter that traps and zaps more than 99% of the coronavirus and anthrax spores—will be delivered to schools in Texas in time for the beginning of classes, says Integrated Viral Protection, which is commercializing the air filter developed by researchers at the University of Houston. The mobile units are in production in three plants—in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. IVP also is gearing up a custom retrofit service for existing central air systems.

该专利均等待加热通风和空调（HVAC）系统过滤器，称为生物义室内空气保护系统，IVP主体Garrett K. Peel表示，这是Medistar公司的全资子公司。

The filter is based on HEPA-filter technology, but it contains an integral heating element that works on the principle of thermal disinfection. Tests at the Galveston National Laboratory determined the filter, heated to 200° C, can trap and deactivate 99.98% of the coronavirus—responsible for COVID-19—as well as 99.9% of anthrax spores that pass through the filter.

The filter also likely destroys other pathogens, including legionella, says Peel, also a co-lead investigator for the University of Houston (UH) research. Researchers did not test specifically for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, found in mist expelled from cooling towers. But because the filter is 99.9% effective for anthrax spores, “typically the gold standard for air disinfection,” it also would likely destroy legionella, says Peel.

“它基本上可以捕获和杀死小于100纳米或大约1,000的孢子，”联合德克萨斯州超导中心联合领导者和主任。“没有任何可以在生物学上存活”因为热的热量，仁说，增加病毒本身不能在70°C以上的温度下存活。

Cang Chen是Massachusetts Tearch教授的Massachusetts Technitute of Chinese of Chource of Research论文，在他对研究中的发言中表示，“这是对对Covid-19斗争的重大现实世界的影响。

“通过过滤器的大多数病毒都被杀死，”陈说。虽然过滤器很热，“空气似乎没有太多加热，这表明额外的能耗是可与现有的空调系统管理。”

However, Chen also said “the mechanism” that kills the virus is “not clear,” and in his opinion, more validation work was “needed.” Still, once that were done, “the technology is simple enough for fast deployment,” he said.

Maintenance and Disposal Safer

The filter distinguishes itself from a HEPA filter in that HEPA filters and other high-efficiency fiber filters only trap the virus, says Ren. The biodefense filter is better because it kills most of the virus, making maintenance and disposal much safer, adds Ren, whose research team collaborated with Monzer Hourani, the mastermind behind the filter concept and CEO of Medistar, a Houston-based medical real estate developer.

对于空气测试，是犹他州医疗分支的一部分的加尔维斯顿实验室，有病毒学家准备病毒样品。然后将样品雾化并通过密封单元中的原型过滤器进行气雾化并运行，Slobodan Paessler表示，该测试的病理学教授领导的。

Filtered air was then tested for the virus and anthrax. “We never discovered any infectious virus,” says Paessler. “The virus is either inactivated or trapped.”

Paessler says he can’t be positive the virus is killed by the filter, but only because the lab did not collect test samples from the filter itself. “But with such high temperatures, I would be surprised if the virus was not deactivated,” he says.

在高温下，病毒生存的可能性与“明天天空会落下的可能性”大致相同。

在IVP的定制HVAC改造中，根据系统的现有过滤器及其加热和冷却元件，将滤波器，测量约为4英尺或更小的范围或更小。Peel说，定制改造将花费约4美元或每吨冷却10,000美元。

By wiring the filter itself so it is electrically heated, rather than heated from an external source, researchers say they minimized the heat that escapes from the filter, allowing air conditioning to function with minimal strain. “Four centimeters away from the heater, the temperature is that of the environment,” says Peel.

The heat may increase cooling system operating costs 1% or 2%, adds Ren.

Ren suggested using nickel foam because it met several key requirements: It is porous, allowing the flow of air, and it is electrically conductive, which allowed it to be heated. It is also flexible.

The first IVP manufacturing partnerships are with Dust Free LP, based in Royse City, Texas; Engineering CPR, based in Mississauga, Ontario; and Instalaciones Metálicas Sanitarias, S.A. de C.V., based in Tultitlán, Mexico. Production has begun, says Peel.

IVP expects its partners to produce 20,000 mobile units by early next year. He adds that Medistar has invested “millions of dollars” in research and development.

第一个单位将在德克萨斯州的佛罗里达州和亚利桑那州上学。皮埃尔说，在休斯顿医疗中心的洲际酒店正在进行恒温化HVAC改造。

IVP also is in talks about partnerships with HVAC system makers, but declines to offer details. Major suppliers, including Siemens, Carrier, Johnson Controls and Mitsubishi, were not available or declined to comment on the IVP filter.

主席威廉Bahnfleth ASHRAE这样流行的助教sk Force, agrees the filter has promise but also wants more information, especially about its performance. Whether this technology represents an advance over available technologies, such as high-efficiency fiber filters and germicidal ultraviolet air disinfection, will depend on “cost, operating cost, reliability, energy use and scalability,” he says. “It will be interesting to learn more” about its characteristics.