Ultraviolet irradiation modeling: verification of near-field and far-field applications

Abstract

<b><sc>Abstract.</sc></b> Ultraviolet (UV) light is an effective way of disinfection and decontamination for airborne pathogens to interrupt the transmission of infectious diseases. There is an increased demand for the inactivation of airborne pathogens in HVAC systems, manufacturing floors, and crowded areas. Digitized luminaire files such as IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) files are generally used in AGi32 software to design visible lighting and calculate light illuminance with numeric and rendered solutions. To date, the modeling tools for UV-related irradiance are limited. As the application of UV-C technology increases over time, there is a need for the industry to estimate and model the UV light irradiation and configurations of the lamps. Modeling UV irradiance with IES files in AGi32 would be one possible solution to fit this need. The main objective of this research was to adopt AGi32 for designing UV light solutions for agriculture. Specifically, we aimed to (1) create and check the feasibility of IES files of a type of UV-C germicidal lamp (254 nm) and a visible fluorescent lamp with the same dimension; (2) verify the accuracy and validity of the IES files with physical UV measurements in a near-field application and a far-field application. At a near-field application, modeled UV irradiance was only 14.2% lower than measured values, and modeled fluorescent illuminance was 30.8% lower than measured values. More data is needed for the comparison in the far-field application (5 to 30 ft). The current % difference showed reasonable uncertainty and emphasized the importance of continuing modeling for various applications.