Maintaining the correct indoor environment is a challenge faced in every building, but what “the correct environment” is can differ dramatically from space to space. A large shopping mall, for example, will primarily face challenges related to maintaining a comfortable temperature by minimizing air loss through exits. A restaurant, on the other hand, needs to balance the comfort of patrons with the cleanliness of the kitchen and the efficiency of large freezers. In many cases, the installation of an air curtain can help to address this broad spectrum of needs, but that does not mean this is a space devoid of innovations.
Consider that there are other types of structures with even more complex problems to solve, such as hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare-related buildings. Even laboratories often face challenges stemming from maintaining a clean and hygienic environment. Air curtains have always been available for these institutions but use in more sensitive areas has been limited. This limitation is because air curtains rely on ambient air to divide spaces; a small amount of whatever is in the air passing through the curtain may also end up on either side of its outflow.
Solving Sanitation Concerns
When maintaining a clean and healthy environment is of the utmost importance, air curtains have not always been the prime choice in these specialized applications. However, that has recently begun to change thanks to efforts on the part of leading air curtain manufacturer Mars Air. The solution: improve air curtains by outfitting them with the ability to better filter their operational air, or to even disinfect it entirely. The result is the new Mars Clean Air line. On one end of the spectrum is a new unit equipped with advanced HEPA filtration, an industry first in its own right. On the other end is a modification available for retrofitting on particular Mars air curtains: the Mars UVC system. Using a special blue light inside the unit, a UVC-equipped curtain can actually disinfect and cleanse the air it uses.
What is UVC? How an Air Curtain Can Disinfect During Operation
How could something like that work? The answer lies in the “blue light,” which is an exceptional type of ultraviolet bulb. We’re all familiar with ultraviolet light as the harmful component of sunlight that causes sunburns and some skin cancers, but did you know that not all ultraviolet is the same? In fact, there are subtle differences between different levels of UV, based on the wavelength of the light. These are known as UVA, UVB, and UVC.
UVA is the primary component of the sunlight we receive on Earth’s surface, while UVB makes up less but is the more dangerous sunburn-causing type of UV light. UVC is the very intense, energetic type — but the good news is that our ozone layer helps to reflect most UVC into space. That’s good for us, of course, but what does it have to do with cleansing the air?
UVC light, owing to its powerful nature, has quite a disruptive effect on pathogens such as bacteria. The light is so intense that it can indeed destroy cellular DNA in bacteria, rendering it unable to reproduce or survive. UVC can even help to neutralize some odors in the air. The overall result of building UVC lamps into air curtains is a cleaner-smelling and sanitized stream of air that can help maintain hygienic environments in sensitive applications. Plus, thanks to the way Mars has designed the unit, there is no risk of exposure to the UVC light by walking beneath the unit and through its air curtain.
You don’t have to operate a clean room to benefit from the Mars UVC system, however. In fact, we can return to our restaurant example from earlier to demonstrate a good reason to consider these systems. According to Mars, the UVC air curtain system can remove and effectively destroy E. coli bacteria from the air. As one of the riskiest pathogens faced in any food preparation area, the ability to ensure that infectious agents aren’t entering from the exterior to the kitchen is invaluable indeed.
Exploring Your Choices for UVC Curtains
Is this technology a good fit for your business? Could you retrofit an existing air curtain to use a Mars UVC kit for additional power in space sanitization? Answering these questions demands an experienced perspective. At Air Door Distributors, a major supplier of Mars air curtains to clients across many industries, we have that experience and the hands-on understanding that makes choosing solutions for your business simple and stress-free. In combination with units employing powerful HEPAC filtration, the Mars Clean Air product line can offer straightforward answers to the complex problems facing your company.
To find out more about how UVC technology works and how it can positively impact your operations, please (contact us online or by phone today).
