UV-C LED light to fight against viruses and bacteria 

UV-C can make an enormous contribution to fight viruses and can eliminate up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria on the surfaces, in the air, and in drinking water 

UV-C light has been used since the mid- 20th century for disinfection and in recent years it has become more reliable due to technological advancements. During the current pandemic adoption of this efficient UV technology is much in demand but the UV radiation source is typically an expensive mercury-containing gas discharge lamp, requiring high power, having a short lifetime, and is bulky. The ever increasing demand for developing environmentally friendly methods of producing UV light and technological advances in the manufacturing of solid state UV devices gave way to the use of UV-C based LED solutions for disinfection. The target is to develop high performance, UV light-emitting diodes (UVC-LED) which would be far more energy-efficient, portable, long-lasting and environmentally friendly. 

UV-C is far-ultraviolet light with a wavelength between 200 nm to 280 nm. It is used for damaging the DNA of microorganisms and many disinfection applications. LED (light-emitting diode), is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. When a light-emitting diode is forward biased (switched on) electrons from the n-side recombined with the holes from the p-side at the p-n junction resulting in the emission of light. The energy gap of the semiconductor determines the wavelength of the emitted light. 

An LED-based UV-C disinfection solution is a compact size of the light source. UVC LEDs have space-saving dimensions and can be installed easily on the final application for direct interaction with the substance being sanitised. UV-C LEDs can be powered on and off tens of thousands of times with no observable degradation in performance and it also offers a near-instant capability to achieve full power output without requiring warm up time. UV-C LED in the HVAC system can be turned off when the air is not circulating so the consideration of product lifetime changes it is also evident that LEDs used in pulse mode can provide greater germicidal efficacy in some applications 

UV-C LED mostly has a peak wavelength between 275 nm to 280 nm and is just as effective as 254 nm for purification purposes. UVC LEDs offer appreciable advantages over the traditional mercury lamps as they contain no hazardous material, have lower heat consumption, directed heat extraction, more durability and can be switched on and off instantaneously without cycling limitation. Because of the compact size of LED-based UV-C solutions, they can be directly integrated within disinfection applications in restricted spaces including industrial applications, water purifiers, air-conditioning systems and they are often adopted for portable disinfection products. 

The use of LED-based UV-C solution is rapidly growing in applications such as germicidal UVGI for air, water and surface disinfection. Advancement in UVC LED flux density, stability and life hours have made UV LEDs a feasible solution for replacing traditionally used UV light sources such as mercury, arc lamps, hot and cold cathode lamps and grid lamps. In UVC LEDs the direct integration of the light source ensures that the high energy, short wave UVC light does not reach the surrounding areas and therefore does not pose a risk to people. Unlike conventional disinfection lighting technologies, LEDs are very robust and insensitive to external shocks. 

UV LEDs are effective against removing harmful bacteria, fungi and viruses such as COVID-19. Some of the most common applications of UV-C LEDs are – 

• Germicidal (UVGI) purification 
• Sterilisation of the surfaces 
• Purification of air 
• Disinfection of water 
• Hospital sanitisation. 

MG Cooling Solutions, a leading HVAC Enterprise provides a complete air purification solution to disinfect the spaces. It provides UVGI solutions for HVAC system to keep indoor environment safe during the pandemic with the proven result as per ASHRAE guidelines