Airport News Japan

Anti-Virus Demonstration Test at New Chitose Airport with Air Conditioners Using Photocatalysts

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New Chitose Airport Terminal

On June 17, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced that it will conduct a large-scale demonstration test at New Chitose Airport in Chitose, Hokkaido of technology that uses photocatalysts to render viruses that spread infectious diseases inert.

Photocatalysts are substances that absorb ultra-violet and other spectrums of light and break down organic matter. The experiment aims to establish technology that reduces threats such as swine flu at ports of entry, and it will investigate the results of rendering viruses inert and the effects on germs and viruses put in the air running through filters in airport terminal air conditioning units to which photocatalysts have been applied.

The test will be conducted with the cooperation of the Hokkaido Airport Terminal, the company that manages and operates the terminal at New Chitose Airport, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT). This will be the first time that an experiment to remove viruses with photocatalysts will be conducted in a wide space outside the laboratory, and future prospects indicate that this technology will be introduced in all Japanese airports.

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)New Chitose Airport