The UV light and ozone are not new discoveries. Ozone was first discovered in the late 1800's and used as a water purifier in Europe. UV light was discovered in the 1930's. Actually, nature discovered it before; it was called the "sun". The disinfection qualities of UV light are also not new. Hospitals have used UV light for decades in operating rooms. Barbers were disinfecting combs in the 1950's with UV light. What is new is the enhancement of both these natural, friendly oxidizers and the validation for use on air, water, food and laundry.
In the mid-1980's air purifiers started to make their way into the residential market. Ozone air systems were widely used in the commeRCIonal restoration business for fire and flood damage to buildings. These applications utilized corona discharge systems (CD) that use a spark or electrically charged plates to simulate lightning. This converted the oxygen (O2) to ozone (O3). The CD method creates very high concentrated ozone. Plus by using air as the oxygen source, you are receiving 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen. The problem with CD systems is with oxygen conversion you also get a nitrogen conversion, which makes nitric acid and nitric oxide.
The problem facing the residential air systems was that the cost of an oxygen generator was so high they went without one. This, of course, created a CD unit that produced high concentrated ozone plus low levels of nitric oxide and nitric acid. The maintenance was a problem due to the corrosive nature of nitric acid and the high concentration of ozone exceeding the Federal safety limits of .04 ppm. Ozone readings at the exhaust have exceeded 10 ppm, which is potentially lethal. Air Oasis decided to stay out of this dangerous market.
In the late 1980's it was discovered that the lower concentration of ozone could have an effect on odors, mold and bacteria. Testing this theory, determined that safe, low levels of ozone could have a significant result with airborne mold, odors and bacteria. The problem was to create a safe residential air purifier that could produce safe, low concentrations of ozone that would not exceed the .04 ppm Federal limits. This was accomplished in the early 1990's, about the same time as the Federal Government was going after the ozone residential units. This battle of the Feds and manufacturers gave ozone a very bad name.
With the technology to build a device that produces safe, low concentrations of ozone and the ability to ensure a room would not exceed .04 ppm, it was time to set out to validate the use of this device on mold, VOC's, odors and bacterial. Fox TV News was doing a three-part series on indoor air problems and tested one of the ozone units. The unit they had tested was producing 18 ppm ozone, a lethal amount that drove the camera crew and news reporter right out of the office. The Fox people then asked if they could independently test the AHPCO technology. They ran tests supervised by an independent air specialist and two medical doctors. The series turned out to be a fantastic infomeRCIonal for this technology. The results couldn't have been better. Fox ran this on their national news network and their national health news. Popular Science picked up the story for the magazine and ran it on the Popular Science TV Show.
In 2003 the AHPCO Cell was developed. Rhodium was now added as a catalyst and improved hydration compounds were also added. Plus, a total new target concept was used. A 360 degree cell provided maximum exposure of the catalysts. The bulb was reworked and a HE/UV Broad Spectrum bulb with a heavy duty filament was developed. This combined with a soft start ballast gave the new AHPCO Cell an unprecedented 3 year, 25,000 hour life. This was a major improvement over the current standard 8,000-10,000 hour UV bulb life. The most important improvement was the efficacy, the new cell design created more hydro peroxides, super oxide ions and ozone levels were .01-.015 ppm or less. Country or forest air is usually around .01-.02 ppm of ozone. Most people can smell ozone at .01 ppm, and .05 ppm is the federal safe limit for medical devices. The new cell also produces hydroxide ions and ozonide ions which broadened the scope of capabilities.
By using a AHPCO™ Cell with redundant oxidizers our scope of effectiveness is widely broadened.
In March of 2006 our new quad-nano Xtreme™ catalyst coating was introduced. With this new patent-pending coating a fifth powerful catalyst metal was added. We also reduced the particle size of our metals down to a nanosize particle in order to increase the surface area and therefore increase the kinetic rate of reaction. The hydrophilic gel was also improved to further hydrate the coating and react in combination with the metal catalysts (by donating hydrogen to the ozone) to decompose ozone to form hydroxide ions, and radicals, as well as hydro peroxides, such as the HO2 radical and hydrogen peroxides, which are desirable reaction products from the decomposition of ozone due to their strong oxidizing properties, which enhances the germicidal effect of UV radiation.
While competitors are using TiO2 alone with no hydrating agents or other less effective catalyst coatings, Air Oasis is setting the trend for the next generation of air purifiers.
