LONG BEACH, CA—With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, businesses worldwide remain highly concerned and invested in protecting their staff and customers from potential infection. Leveraging its many years of leadership in clean air solutions and industrial air pollution control, Ship & Shore Environmental Inc announced the official launch of the Korozon System, a unique product line under the Ship & Shore Technologies (SST) subsidiary.
The Korozon System is a series of decontamination and disinfection technology that uses antimicrobial activated oxygen to help purify a building’s air and surfaces that may be harboring bacteria, viruses and other organic health hazards, and offers several advantages over alternative disinfection processes and provides peace of mind for businesses and organizations seeking to protect those in their workspaces.
The Korozon System
The Ship & Shore Technologies Korozon product line debuts with its first solution that is available for any enclosed space as well as integrates with a building’s existing HVAC system. The Korozon generator continuously monitors activated oxygen output and helps to circulate clean, disinfected air throughout a facility. Ship & Shore Technologies takes special care to advise and even assist customers so that the safest, most effective disinfection practices are observed.
With its multi-stage effectiveness, this technology can be custom engineered for a small room or scaled up for deep disinfection use by a large industrial facility. As with all other Ship & Shore industrial solutions, the Korozon System can be designed to best fit a client’s application and setting. Initial target markets include:
- Hospitality industry (hotels, motels, resorts)
- Airplanes and airports
- Public transportation
- Malls and stores
- Casinos and convention arenas
- Schools, universities and student centers
- Gym, spas and recreational areas
- Libraries
- Industrial cleaning facilities
- Manufacturing facilities
How Activated Oxygen Works
Activated oxygen, or ozone (O3), is a reactive molecule that readily gives off an oxygen atom to break down into ordinary dioxygen (O2), that which we breathe to live and thrive. The third oxygen atom easily bonds with many other types of molecules, thus altering their composition.
With viruses such as the coronavirus, this free radical oxygen atom diffuses through the pathogen’s protein coat and into the underlying nucleic acid, where it then damages the RNA the virus needs to replicate. Many studies have amply proven the virucidal abilities of ozone to inactivate the SARS virus, and an increasing number of studies claim similar results against today’s COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2.
The Korozon System involves innovative use of activated oxygen generators backed by S&SE’s years of engineering calculations and safety protocol experience to allow for a safe and effective method for disinfection and air treatment. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suggests that workers not be exposed to more than 0.05 ppm concentrations in the workplace. Equipped with several ozone analyzers as well as a PLC/HMI controls system to monitor the unit, provide instant alerts, or shut off as needed, the Korozon System is uniquely designed for activated oxygen concentrations that are high enough to inactivate pathogens while operating well below the 0.05 ppm limit so as not to oxidize surfaces or harm personnel present in the area.
Activated Oxygen Advantages
Activated oxygen is so effective that it has been employed in a variety of ways for over a century. Modern applications go far beyond disinfection ranging from odor control to groundwater remediation, oil and gas industry, fracking applications, to ink adhesion in packaging.
Environmental decontamination is common in industries such as pharmaceuticals food production. Many alternatives exist for such processes, but drawbacks abound.
For example, vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) tends to be cheap, stable and easy to disperse in a chemical fog. However, for best effectiveness, environmental temperature and humidity must be controlled for extended periods, and surfaces should be pre-cleaned. VHP also has difficulty in penetrating organic biofilms and residues.
Ultraviolet light is easy to implement as a disinfectant, but being light, is prone to not disinfecting in shadowed areas. Chlorine dioxide is often used to disinfect water, but it can also be employed as a room disinfectant in gaseous form. However, chlorine dioxide can be unstable, even explosive. Chlorine is a byproduct of chlorine dioxide production, and some chlorine dioxide byproducts can cause health problems in some people.
Unlike many other disinfectant approaches, trioxygen is produced on-site through a reaction between O2 and an electric discharge. There’s no hazardous material to transport or store, and no hazardous waste. The Korozon System is remarkably eco-friendly.
Additionally, activated oxygen is more effective at destroying pathogens than chlorine. And unlike ultraviolet light and chlorine methods, ozone disinfection inhibits microorganism regrowth.