Inactivation of microorganisms on surfaces of a refrigerator compartment with low-pressure mercury lamps

Household refrigerator compartments and cold chain systems are highly susceptible to microbial contamination. To minimize the surface-contact disease transmission, low-temperature surfaces must be inactivated. Currently, there is no environmentally friendly and convenient means for surface sterilization at low temperatures. This investigation proposed the use of low-pressure mercury lamps to sterilize the bottom surface of a refrigerator. The mercury lamps emitted UVC irradiation and were mounted horizontally on the sidewalls of the refrigerator compartment to inactivate Escherichia coli (E. coli) on the bottom surface. The measured irradiances and E. coli inactivation efficiencies were used to validate the surface-to-surface (S2S) model. The impacts of the refrigeration temperature (20 °C, 4 °C, and −18 °C, respectively) on the UVC output and E. coli sterilization efficiency were evaluated. And so did for the impacts of the relative humidity (ranging from 45 % to 85 % at 4 °C). The required time for operation of the UVC lamps to reach a 3-log reduction in E. coli was calculated for different lamp placements. The results revealed that the UVC emission of low-pressure mercury lamps decreases remarkably with the temperature. The necessary UVC irradiation dose to achieve the same inactivation efficiency increases as the temperature decreases. To extend the operating life of UVC lamps, the installed lamps should make the irradiance distribution on the target surface as uniform as possible.