Industrial pollution of air by aerosols, highly volatile organic compounds, and exhaust substances, also puts a pressure on the environment and affects human health. Short-wave radiation VUV ( vacuum UV radiation = 185 nm ) is used for generating ozone out of the oxygen from the surrounding air, and also for the activation of ozone in oxidation processes. In that way, UV oxidation disintegrates the pollutant in a stream of air.
Solvents are being released during the production and use of paints and varnishes, for instance, in paints-and-varnishes stores, printing offices, and car industry. Organic pollutants in the exhaust air in chemical, plastic, rubber and wood-processing industries, and processing of wood and surfaces, can also trigger air pollution problems.
These pollutants can be easily disintegrated by UV light. In most industrialized countries, local air pollution has been significantly reduced in the past few decades, primarily thanks to improving legal regulations regarding the air pollution control. In Europe for instance, the EU directive concerning VOC ( volatile organic compounds ) regulates the treatment of exhaust air.
It obliges smaller enterprises to purify their polluted and exhaust air, even in case of low concentrations, before it is released into the environment. In Germany, the directive has been integrated into the national law with 31. BIMSCHV ( federal regulation of emission control ) which came into power on 1 November 2007. UV light of 185 nm wave length effectively acts on air. Heraeus vacuum UV emitters are used for disintegrating:
- Odours (in food processing, plants for purifying waste waters, livestock stables, smells)
- Grease
- Solvents and VOC
- Chemicals (TCE, Perc, ammonia, etc.)