UV Solutions

ICULTA 2021 Moves Online

iculta2021-logoThe International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications (ICULTA) has been rescheduled to 2021 and will be held online April 18-21, 2021. ICULTA 2021 offers a forum for exchange, networking and discussions on the latest progress and innovations in the development of UV LEDs and their broad spectrum of applications.

Additionally, it will be an opportunity to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on UV LED technology solutions. The conference is jointly organized by the German consortium Advanced UV for Life and the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA). Details will be available soon at www.iculta.com/welcome.

UV LED Task Force on the Move

The IUVA UV LED Task Force has been established to set guidelines for the performance of UV LED-based water treatment systems. The proposed guidelines are for UV LED-based water treatment disinfection systems only. The market scope of these guidelines needs to be determined by the task force, as the municipal, point-of-entry, point-of-use and specialty/medical markets have potentially different regulatory environments. Also, there is possible use for static, recirculating flow and single-pass flow systems. The guidelines are to be non-prescriptive for system design to allow the widest range of systems in a world market, determine if the IUVA performance criteria are met and what documentation is necessary to verify that this is so. For more information, contact task force chairs Gordon Knight at dg.knight2018@gmail.com and Natalie Hull at hull.305@osu.edu.

Standard Protocol for the Quantification of the Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging

A new task force is under development for a “Protocol for the Determination of Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging Demand.” The proposed protocol is designed to standardize practice in hydroxyl radical scavenging demand quantification to facilitate consistent and comparable methods by practitioners and researchers in the field of advanced oxidation. The goal of this proposed task force is to collaboratively refine the draft protocol and facilitate the process of third-party reviews, with the aim of eventually gaining IUVA endorsement.  For more information, contact Dr. Laith Furatian, laith.furatian@stantec.com.

COVID-19 Task Force Update

Lead by Ted Mao, the COVID-19 Task Force has approximately 30 active members and three working groups: N95 decontamination, surface disinfection validation and SARS-CoV-2 dose response.

So far, the group has published five white papers, which will serve as living documents for members to comment on and for new information to be added to as it becomes available. The group holds biweekly meetings and is still open and accepting new members. Establishing a plan moving forward is an ongoing process with consideration of starting a far-UV working group. For details, please contact Ted Mao,
tedmao@outlook.com.

Food and Beverage Plan for 2021

The IUVA Food and Beverage group is developing plans for 2021, including information relating to Non-Intrusive Air Disinfection in Food Prep and Food Service Venues, Affordable and Safe Disinfection of High Touch Surfaces in Food Prep and Food Service Venues, and NSF Certified Water Treatment Reactors for Install in Food Processing Facilities. The group is working to develop webinars, outreach to focus area stakeholders and infographics to assist site managers. For more information, please contact Peter Gordon, p.gordon@bolb.co.

Updates from the IUVA YP Committee

The Young Professionals Committee would like to welcome the newest member of the IUVA YP UV Solutions Taskforce, Dr. Fateme Barancheshme, postdoctoral researcher, Polytechnique Montréal.

Also new this quarter are the YP Paper Spotlights. These paper spotlights are short summaries highlighting recent publications. Be sure to check out the new website, iuva.org/IUVA-Young-Professionals, to keep up with what the IUVA YP Committee is planning, submit a nomination for a YP Spotlight or join the mailing list.

YP Paper Spotlights
“Microplasma UV lamp as a New Source for UV-Induced Water Treatment: Protocols for Characterization and Kinetic Study”
Milad Raeiszadeh, research and development scientist, Acuva Technologies
Co-author: Fariborz Taghipour

This study is the very first demonstration of the application of newly emerged far UV-C sources, microplasma lamps, in UV water treatment systems. In this work, two comprehensive protocols were developed: (1) protocol for characterization and controlling of the microplasma far-UVC lamp output, i.e. power and radiation pattern, by studying the effect of various operating parameters; (2) protocol for designing collimated kinetic study set-ups to achieve reliable photo-kinetic data for microbial inactivation and advanced oxidation processes.

“Removal of sulfamethoxazole, Ibuprofen and Nitrobenzene by UV and UV/Chlorine Processes: A Comparative Evaluation of 275 nm LED UV and 254 nm LP UV”
Minhwan Kwon, postdoctoral researcher, Trojan technologies
Co-authors: Yeojoon Yoon, Seonbaek Kim, Youmi Jung, Tae-Mun Hwang, Joon-Wun Kang

This study evaluated the micropollutant removal capacity by direct photolysis using a 275 nm light-emitting diode (LED) UV/chlorine system and compared with a conventional 254 nm low-pressure (LP) UV system as a function of the UV dose.

The committee exists to increase interest and involvement in the IUVA and UV industry among young professionals (YPs), defined as students and professionals less than 35 years old or with less than five years’ experience post-graduation in UV-related industry, government or academia. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to get more involved, feel free to contact us via social media (@IUVAYP) or by email (iuvayp@iuva.org)