That heat can neutralize covid-19 had already been proven in previous research. Now, the new study, published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering in February, shows that the phenomenon can happen in record time, that is, in less than a second.
Arum Han, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M University, and his team have shown that heat treatment in less than a second completely inactivates the coronavirus – providing a possible solution to mitigate the continued spread of covid-19, particularly through long-range airborne transmission.
The process works by heating a section of a stainless steel tube, through which researchers run the solution containing the coronavirus, to a high temperature and then immediately cooling the section.
This experimental setup allows the coronavirus, which runs through the tube, to be heated only for a short period of time. Through this rapid thermal process, the team found that the virus was completely neutralized in significantly less time than was thought possible.
