Fresh-Aire UV, which claims to be the originator of the patented Blue-Tube UV 24-VAC low-voltage ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) light, has announced that it has developed Blue-Calc, a UV-C light design and analysis service using sizing software for HVAC engineers and contractors.

According to the company, Blue-Calc’s web service provides calculations of both airborne and cooling coil surface microbe disinfection efficiencies from UV-C light exposure and generates detailed colour chart and graph image printouts for building owner presentations.

Available at www.freshaireuv.com, Blue-Calc’s online form prompts engineers and contractors to input the design parameters of any size HVAC system project, and the program provides users with sizing, mounting configuration, lamp type and placement specification data that has been factory engineer-reviewed, the company explains.

Fresh-Aire UV lists the following product features and benefits:

• Developed collaboratively by Fresh-Aire UV’s in-house UVGI and software engineering departments, Blue-Calc can detect inadequate coverage or insufficient microbe inactivation time in a specification conforming to the UVGI industry’s D99 criteria – a dose resulting in a minimum 99% inactivation.
• Blue-Calc’s custom-written software is based on mathematical modelling of the UV disinfection process pioneered by UVGI industry scientists and Fresh-Aire UV’s recent third-party laboratory testing.
• The software program precisely sizes for UV light intensity and auto-placement for optimal disinfection and helps cut project costs by eliminating equipment over-sizing.
• Blue-Calc automatically configures UV lamp locations and mathematically models UV irradiation and microbe inactivation over hundreds of thousands of data points within the HVAC enclosure. The calculated data is illustrated by different charts/graphs, such as both lengthwise and crosswise “Irradiation Field Intensity”, “Microbe Survival Profile”, “Irradiance on the Surface”, “Survival Times” and other illustrations.
• Some of the program’s charts are unique to the UVGI industry. The “Microbe Survival Profile” image, for example, demonstrates the program’s ability to calculate reflectivity of a variety of duct material surfaces.
• Inputting data on the form takes only minutes. An optional space is also provided to describe unusual project characteristics such as unconventional HVAC configurations or an interest in the disinfection of specific microbes. Required input data includes enclosure dimensions, air velocity, air handler/coil model and other parameters related to Fresh-Aire UV’s UVGI system requirements.
• Output data also includes the selected lamp model and parameters, number of lamps, lamp locations, UV power, electrical power requirements, each lamp’s peak irradiance, in-duct irradiance (µW/cm2), and microbe inactivation calculations.