Author Topic: UV for sanitizing?  (Read 822 times)

Offline Sbrem

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6055
UV for sanitizing?
« on: March 16, 2020, 12:36:44 PM »
I've done a little reading this morning about UV sanitizing. I'm reading that 250nm to 280nm range is very good for killing bacteria, mold and other things, and also 405nm, as there is a company (or more) making lighting in that range. I bring this up as a lot of us may have UV sources already (we have a Saati 450 ProLite) and I'm wondering if we can possibly use this to disinfect areas of the shop, bathrooms, kitchen etc. I built a 200w 405nm exposure lamp around the time we bought the Pro-Lite, as a hobby project, and it's small enough to carry around to do people's keyboards, desks etc., as well as just putting it in a rest room and leaving it on for a minute or two facing a wall (the inverse square law applies here) would be helpful. I see the small hand held units at 3 watts. Thoughts? There are a lot of good brains here. I would not expose people to it of course, though the 250nm - 280nm range seems to be deadly to the bugs, but not have an effect on human skin or eyes. It's an emerging technology for sure...

Steve
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't


Offline ebscreen

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4281
Re: UV for sanitizing?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2020, 12:55:32 PM »
It's really only good for flat. non-porous, already clean surfaces.

You can't sanitize without removing soil first. IE if there's any amount of dirt/grime/dust/whatever
on the item you are trying to sanitize (sterilize really) it won't work/will take so long and/or require
so much power as to not make sense.

So if you're removing soil (scrubbing whatever it is you want sanitized) you might as well just use a
disinfectant and call it good.

All that from homebrewing.


Interesting tech for sure, our local water dept. uses giant racks of uv lamps to sterilize water slowly
flowing by in super shallow depths. That's arguably best use case.

Offline Sbrem

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6055
Re: UV for sanitizing?
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2020, 03:05:13 PM »
I've ordered UV clarifying lamps for one of my employees for her fish pond, and thought about LED based bulbs doing the job with a lot longer lifespan. Upon rethinking what I read, it would seem it was being used on the air in the room; white light LED and the UV, where the UV gets used mostly when people won't be in the room. The white light of course makes the room workable.

Steve
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't

Offline ebscreen

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4281
Re: UV for sanitizing?
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2020, 07:07:21 PM »
That makes sense in a more of a passive way. Organisms are pretty vulnerable when suspended in free air.

The water treatment facility I mentioned below also used bio-reaction chambers to treat sewage. The end result
being a fine almost top-soil like substance. And apparently the tomato seed survives the human digestive tract.
Enormous plants but ain't no one gonna eat 'em.

Offline Rockers

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2074
Re: UV for sanitizing?
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2020, 02:08:16 AM »

Offline Sbrem

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6055
Re: UV for sanitizing?
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2020, 08:20:58 AM »
I made a mistake once; I thought I was wrong about something; I wasn't