Thammarak Srimarut. Design and development of anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer for controlling microorganisms in wordplace . Master's Degree(Industrial Hygiene and Safety). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
Design and development of anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer for controlling microorganisms in wordplace
Abstract:
The study was undertaken to design and develop an anti-microbial sanitizing
sprayer for controlling airborne bacteria in the OPD room of hospitals. The sprayer
was housed in a chamber which was 100-cm wide, and 130-cm high, consisting of a
return air grill beside the chamber and an air supply grill on the top of the chamber.
There was also a packing media layer, sanitizing spray nozzles, mist eliminator and
blower inside the chamber. The anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer was designed to
bring contaminated air through the return air grill and supply treated air through the
top of it at a flow rate of 2,245 and 1,441.5 cubic meter per hour. The sanitizer
sprayed in the chamber was TEGO51, and it was used at 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 percent
concentrations.
The study began with the determination of background bacteria concentrations
in the OPD room at each hour and with different numbers of patients. Then the
appropriate duration for testing the efficiency of the anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer
in reducing airborne bacteria in the OPD room was determined. The efficiency of the
anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer was tested using three concentrations of TEGO51
and two different air flow rates by collecting bacteria samples before and after
operating the anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer for 60, 120, 180 and 240 minutes,
respectively. Then the anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer was operated for 480 minutes.
The results showed that the bacteria concentration in the OPD room increased
and continued accumulate when the patients were in the room. But operating the
sprayer with 1.0%TEGO51 at an air flow rate of 1,441.5 cubic meter per hour for 240
minutes provided the highest efficiency of bacteria reduction of 78-95%. The bacteria
concentration related to the number of patients while the duration of operating the
anti-microbial sanitizing sprayer related to the accumulation of airborne bacteria in
OPD room.