Singlet Delta Oxygen Airflow Sterilization for Building Protection

Direct Energy Solutons proposes to deliver a prototype air flow decontaminaton device design for building protection from chemical and bilogical attacks. The decontamination device generates singlet delta oxygen (SDO) on a photocatalyst bed for the destruction of contaminants entrained in an airflow. This HVAC-compatible, minimum pressure drop chem-bio decontaminaton system will: Use a proven nonhazardous decontaminant; Quickly and permanently destroy the chemical or biological agent; Potentially have universal utility so the specific chemical or biological agent need not be known, Produce no toxic residuals such as ozone; and Operate in both standby (routine purificaton) and high power (attach protection) modes. The approach consists of the use of a photochemical generator of metastable single delta oxygen (SDO) as a catalyst bed for the oxidation of agents in air circulation systems. SDO is a powerful yet selective oxidant which shows excellent potenatil to be an effective chemical-biological decontamination agent. The device consists primarily of an oxygen source (air or pure O2) , a commercially available lamp as the energy source for SDO production, and a bed or granular media coated with a high efficiency Type II photosensitizer material. The device is integrated into ductwork to treat fresh or recirculated air as it passes through the catalyst bed. The device has many potential commercial applications including fixed or portable air purifiers and air sterilization for hospitals to prevent secondary infections. In Phase I, a flow tube testbed will be modified to entrain and collect controlled concentrations of chemical weapons agent (CWA) simulants, yielding precise fundamental reaction kinetics data which will facilitate prototype device design and performance prediction. A prototype device design will be producted. In Phase II the prototype device design will be developed into a working prototype decontamination device, and this device will be tested against chemical and biological simulants and living agents for performance verification. Quantitative effectiveness data for SDO against biological species will be obtained. The optimized prototype design produced in Phase II will be ready for commercial development in Phase III.