With COVID-19, it is important for ventilation systems to be able to remove pathogens and disinfect. SARS family viruses die bu heat exposure at 60 degrees for 15 minutes; the air from the pathogen removal stage gets sucked into tubes that could be placed on rooftops in solar heater configuration to heat up to 60 degrees and more, killing remaining pathogens then get passed to zeolite columns for CO2 removal. By integrating CO2 in algae bioreactors that would be "degassed" from produced oxygen that would enter the ventilation system, the integrated airfiltration system would allow for using negatively charged and positively charged meidum (polymer then zeolites) for removal of pathogen, UV / heat from sunlight to disinfect any remaining pathogens and utilize CO2 solubility in flushing the Zeolites for reuse so that CO2-rich solution could enhance bioreactor photosynthesis yield and oxygen "degassing" would reduce the adevrse results of oxygen accumulation in bioreactors. (Pathogens trapped onto polymer and sillica (that get heated via heat exchange via the air solar heater, allowing safe reuse against reduced energy requirement) and CO2 (20 times more soluble than O2) could be used to increase biomass and O2 generation (which gets degassed and enter the ventilation system) for comfortable breathing in confined spaces / closed environments.
Quite honestly, we were inspired by coupke of phenomena like adsorption, CO2 solubility, and the fact that pathogens behave differently based on their affinity to water. We thought about using adsorption and play with media whose surfaces , positive and negatively charged, could remove different things at different stages. We were also inspired by the possibility of producing sillica media for pathogen removal from biogenic source (pyrolosis of rice processing waste of husks an stalks via pyrolosis for feedstock bio oil and extraction from the sillica-rich resultant biochar).
Also, NASA had leading research that we discovered later to validate our approach as we talked to the mentors (usage of sillica and zeolites). I would say our innovation lies in using the water flushing system of the zeolites to get the CO2 removed and recycling the CO2 in the biomass systems of algae in addition to pathogen removal that responds to the COVID-19 pandemic which would require ventilation systems especially in quarntine locations to be a source of pathogen removal and NOT pathogen propagation as we approach summer and ventilation may lead to increasing the infection rate in hospitals among visitors and healthcare providers and once lockdown is eased.
This Google Drive link has the presentation, the video and the design files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_cKJPnYZPKR4VyxB9R6q38Ok5ZVTtwOR?usp=sharing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp3Kw3Xecf8&feature=youtu.be
Our website: https://aironauts.wordpress.com/
NASA research on algae, Zeolites and Sillica (PDF files that couldn't attach here)
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Gellett_SolidStateAirPurification.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/apr_zeolite.html
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/146558main_RecyclingEDA(final)%204_10_06.pdf