RAPel (Reusable Antiviral Particle eliminator)

Breathe, breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care!

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Inspiration

There is a lack of re-usable, sterilizable filter media with anti-viral properties that can be manufactured locally or even in-house. Our past work with filters for emission control of nanoparticles from internal combustion engine exhaust (which are in the same size range as the coronavirus particles) and their in-situ elimination (by oxidation using functional catalytic coatings) has given us inspiration to apply our 30+ year experience from that area to the effort against the coronavirus.

What it does

RAPel is a very compact but high filtration area (much higher than existing filter media) element that exhibits:

  1. Ultra high filtration efficiency (> 99%) across the size range from nano to micron sized particles and droplets
  2. Functionalized with anti-viral coating
  3. Sterilizable by various methods
  4. Re-usable, eliminates need for stocking disposable filter cartridges
  5. Very low pressure drop, leading to easy breathing
  6. High capacity for moisture detention

How we built it

With various methods of forming/shaping inorganic materials, simple enough to be employed for large scale manufacturing using existing production lines of ceramic filters (extrusion), or in made-to-order by local construction (using casting and/or 3d printing) or even in-house (acquiring or making molds) in an affordable fashion.

Challenges we ran into

Identifying suitable alternative raw materials and their binding.

Accomplishments that we are proud of

Transfer of knowledge from emission control to health technology. We have uncovered opportunities for innovation in medical anti-coronavirus technology exploiting our aerosol and particle technology expertise.

What we learned

Hackathons are not meant only for computer applications.

What's next for RAPel (Reusable Antiviral Particle eliminator)

Refinements of material and coating alternatives, testing/certification and organization of pilot production, to bring the technology soon to a respirator/mask near you (but we wish it will not be needed!). Finalization of an accompanying sensor technology to allow local testing of filtration efficiency during manufacturing and/or functionalization. All of these requires funding and we are open to potential collaborations with interested partners.

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