Sanitizing car air ducts by means of UV light

Nowadays, sanitizing vehicle passenger compartments is becoming more and more important and necessary, due to the current pandemic situation (COVID-19). The purpose of this thesis is to design a Proof-of-Concept system, able to inactivate certain viruses and bacteria that harm human health and that can circulate inside a car compartment. A possible sanitization solution, the one exploited in this project, is using UV-C light, also known as Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation. The whole system is allocated inside the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) module and it is positioned in a way that guarantees the sanitization of both the internal airflow (re-circulation air) and the external airflow (externally aspirated air). The level of UV-C irradiation necessary for the deactivation of the pathogens can be reached through the use of high-power UV-C LEDs, taking into account several parameters: the nature of the pathogen, the geometric, physical, and functional characteristics of the climate system (for example, maximum airflow and physical dimensions) and the area covered by the UV-C light irradiated by the LEDs. Eventually, a thorough validation analysis proved the feasibility and efficiency of the designed project. Future developments can include the implementation (prototyping), experimentation, and homologation of the proposed system. This thesis was carried out in cooperation with the Centro Ricerche Fiat (Stellantis), in Orbassano (Torino, Italy).