PBSC has tackled the challenge of reducing water consumption in decontamination showers while maintaining or increasing effectiveness with its new ultrasonic fogging system.
Based on PBSC’s proven de-contamination shower design, the new system creates a fogging system in conjunction with a soft spray. Decontamination fluids, cleansing liquids, and sterilisation agents can be injected at controlled ratios within the fogging device to enable the fog to quickly saturate the operative’s air-suit. The water then forms droplets and rolls off to be collected for contained disposal.
The chemicals used can also include wetting agents, surfactants, and sanitisers, but this will depend upon the processes and the facilities that install the product. No matter the set-up, the fogging performing at more than 90% of the decontamination process, the amount of contaminated water collected for controlled disposal is kept to an absolute minimum.
For example, water usage in a conventional pressure spray is 250l per minute. However, with a soft spray this can be reduced to 40l, plus 2l for the misting process. If a typical decontamination cycle takes 3 minutes, 750l of water is conventionally used. This reduces to a mere 63l if one assumes 3l for a 90 second mist (at 2l/min) plus 60l for a 90 second soft spray (at 60l/min).
With detergent and sanitiser applied through the mist spray, the volume of chemicals needed will also be reduced dramatically. Cycle times and combinations will change depending upon application or decontamination process, but reductions in water, wastewater, and chemical will be significantly reduced. This also reduces the cost of wastewater disposal.
The fogging process is then followed with cold or hot water soft sprays from multiple nozzles, injected with cleaning agents or sanitisers as required. This enables decontamination to be completed in creased areas and as a rinse. Volumes of water are so low that the cost of disposal of contaminated wash-water is significantly reduced.
The PBSC ultra-fogging de-contamination shower provides efficient decontamination for the operator and to internal surfaces of the shower. All are constructed to a modular design using standard PBSC components and can be tailored to a client’s specific requirements.
PBSC can provide units that utilise existing facilities or a stand-alone unit complete with its own system, which can be placed in any convenient location. The direct benefits are tangible, but the intricacies of how this ingenious fogging system actually works can only be explained fully by calling PBSC.