Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DeloxAir (Delox Air - Continuous air bio-decontamination compatible with human presence)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-07-01 al 2025-09-30
More than anything, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the frailty of our modern societies in defending us against an unforeseen biological threat – an adaptable virus that caused more than 7 million deaths, according to the WHO. While the past consequences are widely known, what have we learned five years later? More importantly, what would be different today if another outbreak broke out? In 2020, the only viable response was consecutive lockdowns, with a huge impact on the health (and mental health) of the populations, besides economic and societal effects. The problem was, and still is, that in an environment where infected people coexist, there is absolutely no solution that prevents infection. This prevention strategy is even more important before the first vaccines are developed, which, for COVID-19, was a record of one year after the outbreak. This is the challenge that Delox is ambitiously tackling: amidst a pandemic, how can a group of people be together in a closed space without getting infected? The answer, albeit apparently obvious, is technically challenging. We need constant bio-decontamination of the air – if we are constantly eliminating the virus from the air, we are constantly breathing clean air, and by clean, we mean free from bacteria, fungi, or an epidemic-causing virus. Now, the most important question arises. How do we achieve this? Our answer is to develop a bio-decontamination system that retrofits all HVAC systems, enabling all air in a room to be actively circulated and bio-decontaminated. A word of caution to distinguish between bio-decontamination and simple purification systems. In bio-decontamination, very high amounts of a biocide (by high, it means it would kill everything, human beings included) are introduced in a hospital room, for example, releasing it free from microorganisms. However, a purification system can only improve air quality. To be successful in our approach, we need to bring bio-decontamination to the world of purification: we need a simple system installed in an HVAC, compatible with human presence, that kills microorganisms and thus delivers clean, fresh, and safe air into the room where we are. Our system, DeloxAIR, will be able to be installed in every HVAC system in the world, delivering everyone the possibility of defending against any future endemic, epidemic, or pandemic, and giving our societies the resilience they never possessed.
DeloxHP bio-decontamination technology uses oxygenated water vapor as a biocide (capable of killing microorganisms), which is the core of DeloxAIR’s operation. Delox is iteratively designing, developing, and testing DeloxAir prototypes, able to bio-decontaminate HVAC systems and the air within, all based on this technology. The current version continuously maintains a high amount of oxygenated water vapor concentrations and ensures a uniform distribution inside an HVAC duct, which improves microorganisms’ elimination. Efficacy tests have shown that our system achieves an additional 95% reduction in airborne microorganisms, demonstrating the strong bio-decontamination performance of DeloxAIR. After oxygenated water vapor has been used to eliminate microorganisms, Delox’s system removes more than 99% of any residual oxygenated water and releases clean air from the HVAC duct to ensure everyone’s safety, either from oxygenated water or microorganisms.
The DeloxAIR prototype achieved a key technical milestone by maintaining high and steady oxygenated water vapor concentrations within HVAC ducts, while ensuring that the vapor is effectively reduced to safe levels before the treated air is released into occupied spaces. This dual capability (high-concentration microbial inactivation compatibility with continuous use in human-occupied environments) has not been achieved by the technologies currently on the market. These results are promising and indicate that the DeloxAIR has the potential to reduce microbial load within indoor environments and stop contamination inside HVAC systems. Beyond its technical novelty, the solution responds to key unmet needs in healthcare and public infrastructure, where ensuring safe, clean air without disrupting normal operations is critical during pandemics. Additionally, the system’s compatibility with HVAC systems that cannot support HEPA filters widens its market application.
To ensure further uptake and success, some steps remain critical:
• Further prototype optimization to ensure energy efficiency and reliability
• Field tests in real-world scenarios to demonstrate effectiveness under variable environmental and operational conditions
• Regulatory approvals
• Commercial readiness, as supply chain establishment and pilot deployments
• Strategic partnerships and internationalization support, for adoption within the EU and the USA
• Additional financing enabling market entry in a regulated environment.
To ensure further uptake and success, some steps remain critical:
• Further prototype optimization to ensure energy efficiency and reliability
• Field tests in real-world scenarios to demonstrate effectiveness under variable environmental and operational conditions
• Regulatory approvals
• Commercial readiness, as supply chain establishment and pilot deployments
• Strategic partnerships and internationalization support, for adoption within the EU and the USA
• Additional financing enabling market entry in a regulated environment.