Gerald Sastra/The Cougar
UH physics researchers have designed heated foam air filters that can catch and kill the coronavirus.
With the help of Medistar, a Houston real estate developer specializing in medical buildings, the filter can work to kill the virus.
Since the virus can live up to three hours in the air, the filter would be installed in air conditioning and heating systems.
“The filters could be in production as soon as August,” said Zhifeng Ren, the director of UH’s Texas Center for Superconductivity, in a statement provided by the Houston Chronicle.
The filter will need to be heated to nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit, so when the virus passes through the filter the heat will kill it, according to the Houston Chronicle.
These filters are said to kill 99.8 percent of the virus.
The bio-defense filters are better than high-efficiency fiber filters because they trap and kill the virus, making any filter changes and disposal much safer for maintenance workers, according to the Engineering News-Record.
UH Facilities is considering the air filter as an option once it is in production later this year.
For more of The Cougar’s coronavirus coverage, click here.
