I was president of the IET for 2016-17, and have been asked by government to gather practical and innovative ideas from our Engineering communities. So, please enter any ideas you might have in this thread that might help address and mitigate the Covid-19 crisis. Ideas might include digital tracking / monitoring through therapy equipment and beyond. Even ideas outside your usual expertise domain will be welcome. Now’s the time for Engineering to show we can change the world!
... The process should be safe for use by the operator because there is no handling of the sterilant, no toxic emissions, no residue to aerate, and low operating temperature means there is no danger of an accidental burn.
Keneth. I would have my doubts about this reference. Ozone is potentially harmful to the operator, because it is very irritant to human eyes, skin and airways. There is no net pollution because O3 naturally decomposes to O2 in about 24hr ... but opening a cabinet full of O3 would constitute a toxic emission at that point. O3 can be neutralised by a corona-discharge of the opposite polarity (yes a certain irony here !), and the machines that generate high levels of ozone, have a neutralisation phase to make the atmosphere safe. Ozone is a more powerful oxidant than oxygen, and oxygen itself is difficult to handle because it can cause spontaneous explosive combustion of oils ... So Ozone in levels greater than 10% are an explosive risk. Most applications will not get near to this level, but it needs to be considered when designing a system. Ian
... The process should be safe for use by the operator because there is no handling of the sterilant, no toxic emissions, no residue to aerate, and low operating temperature means there is no danger of an accidental burn.
Keneth. I would have my doubts about this reference. Ozone is potentially harmful to the operator, because it is very irritant to human eyes, skin and airways. There is no net pollution because O3 naturally decomposes to O2 in about 24hr ... but opening a cabinet full of O3 would constitute a toxic emission at that point. O3 can be neutralised by a corona-discharge of the opposite polarity (yes a certain irony here !), and the machines that generate high levels of ozone, have a neutralisation phase to make the atmosphere safe. Ozone is a more powerful oxidant than oxygen, and oxygen itself is difficult to handle because it can cause spontaneous explosive combustion of oils ... So Ozone in levels greater than 10% are an explosive risk. Most applications will not get near to this level, but it needs to be considered when designing a system. Ian
