Covid 19: An Aircraft Cabin Air Disinfection System for Covid-19

新冠肺炎疫情严重影响了世界各地的航空航天产业，加拿大也不例外。飞机对于我们的长途旅行是必不可少的，但由于机舱环境拥挤，容易受到病毒感染。为对抗新冠肺炎，一种新的飞行方式将在整个飞行旅程中对飞机进行不断的消毒。虽然机上看门人、定期消毒服务和座位距离等简单的解决方案可以在一定程度上缓解问题，但它们对机舱空气消毒并不有效，相关成本大幅增加。在飞机机舱等人口稠密的地区，气溶胶被认为是病毒传播的主要来源。虽然现代飞机配备了先进的通风系统来提供干净的机舱空气，但机上没有空气消毒系统。出于这个原因，加拿大飞机制造商正在研究通过通往机舱的供气管道对机舱空气进行消毒的方法。这样做是为了恢复公众对飞行的信心，降低总体飞行成本。由于结构紧凑，离子发生器似乎是一种可行的解决方案，可以通过带电离子(又名)来消毒病毒。冷等离子体。挑战在于，当离子沿旅行距离衰减时，如何保持所需的离子浓度，从离子发生器的位置通过通风口进入机舱。我们建议研究三个因素：1)离子发生器的位置，2)导管材料的透过性，3)紫外光促进离子。将开发一个原型系统，以拥有一个上游离子发生器，可以为不同位置的几个通风口产生离子。将进行试验，以确定上述三个因素的最佳组合。该项目将与庞巴迪航空公司合作进行。该项目的成果将确保在这一艰难时期和未来许多年加强飞机上的卫生安全，对降低未来不仅是新冠-9病毒，而且是其他细菌和病毒污染物的传播风险具有长期和重大的影响。

The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the aerospace industry around the world and Canada is no exception. Aircraft are essential for our long-distance travel but prone to virus infection due to closely packed cabin environment. To combat the Covid-19, a new way of flying will have constant sanitization on the plane for entire flight journey. Though simple solutions such as on-board janitors, periodic sanitizer services and seat distancing can alleviate the problem to a certain extent, they are not effective for cabin air disinfection and the associated costs have increased airfare drastically. Aerosols are regarded as the main source of virus transmission in highly populous areas like aircraft cabins. Though modern aircraft are equipped with advanced ventilation systems to supply clear cabin air, there is no air disinfection system on board. For this reason, Canadian aircraft manufacturers are looking into methods for disinfecting cabin air through air supply lines leading to the cabin. Doing so is to reinstate public confidence in flying and reduce overall flight costs. Owing to the compactness, ion generators emerge to be a viable solution that can disinfect viruses by means of charged ions, a.k.a. cold plasma. The challenge is how to keep a required ion concentration from the location of an ion generator through an air vent into the cabin as ions decay along the travel distance. We propose to investigate three factors: 1) location of an ion generator, 2) permeability of duct material and 3) UV light ion promotion. A prototype system will be developed to have an upstream ion generator that can generate ions for several air vents at different locations. Tests will be carried out to determine an optimal combination of the afore-mentioned three factors. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Bombardier Aviation. The outcome of the project will ensure hygiene-enhanced security on aircraft in this arduous time and for many years to come, with long-lasting and significant impact in reducing risks for the spread of not only COVID- 9, but also other bacterial and viral contaminants in future.