Hyundai and Kia announce Plasma Care UVC sanitization technology to eliminate bacteria and odors in car interiors using safe ultraviolet plasma lamps
Hyundai and Kia have announced joint technological advancement named Plasma Care UVC which make the inside of cars more hygienic. This integrated sanitization system uses particular ultraviolet light wavelengths to sanitize interiors and eliminate bad odors. The team was able to bring production of the technology to an end after conducting real world testings with the help of a Kia PV5 electric minivan.
Ultraviolet sterilizing lamps that are conventionally used produce radiation potentially dangerous to human eyes and skin. To overcome this safety concern, the ultraviolet light source built into the Hyundai and Kia was designed using a specially designed plasma lamp. This produces a narrow spectrum (200 to 230 nanometers) of light, which has enough energy to kill micro organisms although not enough to penetrate the human skin.
Test documentation produced by the device manufacturers states that the system was extensively tested to determine germicidal effectiveness. When exposed to the special plasma rays for 40minutes of continual operation the system successfully killed 99.9% of active E coli bacteria (common in the interior of built environments). Indicating that the technology can be an active barrier against viral and bacterial transmission in collective environments.
This automated sanitization technique offers great potential in bus, train, taxi or other vehicle transit systems with an extremely high passenger volume. Automobiles functioning as school buses, fire trucks, ambulances or within a car sharing scheme are most capable of utilizing this integration. These automobiles may be subjected to hundreds of varying passengers in a single day, so integrated automated, non toxic disinfection procedures could greatly mitigate cross contamination without any manual chemical cleaning processes.
