Performance analysis of a disinfected PV-Trombe wall based on air filtration and thermal sterilization

Bioaerosols have received widespread attention since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 owing to their harmful effect on public health. To deal with indoor bioaerosols, air filtration and sterilization PV-Trombe wall was proposed in this study. An experiment rig concerning thermal sterilization of aerosolized bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was set up to test its feasibility and effectiveness at different exposure temperature and residence time. With the experimental data, an inactivation model was derived based on the first kinetic model and Arrhenius equation. Besides, a mathematical model concerning heat and mass transfer was established for simulating the system performance at different conditions. The results of experiment and simulation reveal that: (1) The survival ratio for E. coli and S. aureus was 0.935, 0.767, 0.582, 0.175, 0.033 and 1.000, 1.000, 0.96, 0.842, 0.738 at the wall temperature of 45°C, 60°C, 80°C, 100°C and 120°C and the residence time of 3 seconds, respectively. (2) the survival ratio predicted by the inactivation model corresponded well with the experimental results and the root mean square error was 0.0491 and 0.0467 for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. (3) The electrical and thermal efficiencies were 0.142 and 0.226 while the clean air production was 177.7 m3 and 143.4 m3 for E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. (4) Due to the thermal sterilization effect, the bacterial quantity on the filter could be maintained at a low level during the operation of the system.