German researchers develop UV LED module for bottle cap disinfectionread count [282] release time：2020-03-11 19:54:00
Recently, UVLEDs have gradually replaced mercury lamps as UV light sources for disinfection applications.
Recently, German researchers have developed a UV LED-based disinfection system for purifying brewing water and cleaning the caps of bottled beer and soft drinks.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Ilmenau Institute in Ilmenau, Germany, collaborated with UV technology solutions provider PURION to develop a UV LED purification module for bacterial disinfection during the beverage bottling process.
Image source: Purion
Thomas Westerhoff and his team designed the UV LED module , its maximum wavelength is 265nm to achieve the best disinfection performance. Westerhoff said the team had to consider the number of LEDs used and how point sources of different wavelengths were arranged in the module.
After many practical tests, the researchers can now operate UV LEDs directly in water without the need for tubes to encase them, thus eliminating reflections and further improving the performance of the radiation source. For industrial partner PURION, this UV LED module can sterilize the inside of bottle caps before filling them with beer brands, ensuring that no bacteria enter the bottles during the production process.
The engineer said, “We can use 4 watts of UV power to illuminate the inner surface of the bottle cap. It's almost impossible to do it with a mercury vapor lamp on such a small surface. ”
According to the latest "2019 Deep UV LED Application Market Report - Sterilization, Purification and Water Treatment Market" released by TrendForce LED Research Center (LEDinside), looking forward to the application market demand, in addition to the stable growth of the curing market, surface/air sterilization and purification, still water sterilization, and flowing water sterilization are the main growth drivers in the future. It is estimated that the output value of the UV LED market will reach US$991 million in 2023.
