What kind of protection do Trotec masks and TAC V+ air purifiers offer against coronavirus?
Coronavirus does not mainly spread via droplet infection, as has long been assumed. More than 80% of all coronavirus infections occur through room air. More precisely through so-called aerosols, a mixture comprising gas (usually air) and solid or liquid constituents, which contain viruses in infected persons. These tiny floating particles are mainly released into the air when breathing and speaking. While larger droplets sink to the ground after only about 1.5 meters due to their weight (hence the social distancing rule of 1.5 meters), aerosol particles can float in the air for several hours owing to their small size. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that even more aerosol particles are produced in the lungs of infected persons and released via respiration.
Do mouth and nose masks protect against infectious aerosols in the air?
Yes and no. As the coronavirus is only about 0.1 to 0.14 micrometers in size, simple mouth and nose masks do not protect against inhalation of infectious aerosols. But even respiratory masks with particle filters (FFP masks) would not prevent this, explains Gerhard Scheuch, former president of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine. Nevertheless, wearing simple masks makes perfect sense, adds Christian Kähler, from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics at the Bundeswehr University in Munich: They provide flow resistance. Instead of breathing particles far out, they remain close to you.’’
Research results show that particles fly much further without a mask
Christian Kähler researched and visualised the ejection range of the particles in a recent study in Germany. The following images show exhalation with and without a mask.
Exhalation with mask (© dpa / Christian Kähler)
Exhalation without mask (© dpa / Christian Kähler)
Do air purifiers protect against infectious aerosols?
Yes. The novel TAC V+ air purifier with HEPA filter cannot prevent tiny aerosols from forming. But it can immediately dilute and filter out aerosol mixtures in room air. A critical factor for the risk of aerosol infection is the length of time that they remain in the room air. This is because – in contrast to the open air, where aerosol mixtures are diluted and replaced with clean, fresh air by the air movement – aerosol concentration remains continuously high in a closed room. The longer the time and the higher the amount of aerosol particles floating around in the air, the faster they enter the body via the respiratory tract and lead to lung infection.
The video below shows how aerosol mixtures, which are invisible to the naked eye, are distributed in the room and inhaled without you noticing.
Clean air just like in the operating theatre: The TAC V+ air purifier makes it possible
Trotec has developed the world’s first mobile high-frequency air purifier, the TAC V+ air purifier, with HEPA filter technology, which makes the high protection of the filter class 14 affordable for individuals, companies and public authorities. According to Dr. Thomas Voshaar (medical advisor to the German Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn), simple air conditioning units do not offer protection, as they are usually only equipped with simple dirt filters. It is only with the HEPA special filters, which filter aerosols out of the rooms, that the air can be kept reliably clean and free of viruses.
“Initial investigations are ongoing. And it seems that special filters can filter aerosols from the rooms. In hospitals, the first tests will soon be carried out to determine whether the air in a room with an infected person can be kept clean from the aerosols by using such filters. And this could also be used in offices, so that more people can work safely there again,” said Voshaar in an interview. And what protects the staff in hospitals also helps all other busy public areas to return to normal operation relatively safely.
The air filtration concept of the TAC V+ air purifier tested in the first successful clinical trials is based on two pillars:
- On the one hand, the aerosol concentration in the room air is continuously diluted with virus-filtered HEPA ultrapure air. For this purpose, the purifier has a high ultrapure air capacity – previously unattained with mobile devices – which enables an air exchange rate up to 20 times per hour.
- In addition, airborne viruses and bacteria are first separated in an innovative, heat-resistant HEPA particulate filter and then cyclically killed off by thermal decontamination. This special filter of protection class 14 exclusively developed by Trotec is distinguished by a separation efficiency of 99.995 percent for particle sizes from 0.1 to 0.2 µm. Thanks to these features, H14 high-performance filters are even used to produce clean air in operating theatres and in similar hygiene-sensitive areas.
Put simply, the air purifier transforms the outdoor air situation to the situation in closed classrooms and complements this with highly efficient virus filtration and inactivation.
What sounds very technical in theory proves to be very uncomplicated in practice. The draught-free intake of polluted room air occurs close to the floor, and the ultrapure virus-free air is then returned vertically upwards into the room. Thanks to the mobile design, the use of several TAC V+ air purifiers enables even large areas of ultrapure air to be created without hazardous aerosol contamination.
The TAC V+ mobile air purifier is available in several colour and equipment variants in the Trotec shop as well as in each of the Trotec branches throughout Europe.
Special conditions apply for schools, public institutions and hospitals when purchasing or renting the device. Please feel free to speak to us personally:
Trotec STORE
Grebbener Straße 7
52525 Heinsberg
Germany
Tel. +49 2452 962-400
E-Mail: store.heinsberg@trotec.com
