Bactericidal Effect of a 275-nm UV-C LED Sterilizer for Escalator Handrails: Optimization of Optical Structure and Evaluation of Sterilization of Six Bacterial Strains

In the pasteurization of escalator handrails using ultraviolet (UV) sterilizers, a combination of light distribution and escalator speed has priority over other important factors. Furthermore, since part of the escalator handrail has a curved structure, proper design is needed to improve the sterilization rate on the surfaces touched by users. In this paper, two types of sterilizers satisfying these conditions are manufactured with 275-nm UV-C LEDs, after modeling the three-dimensional (3D) structure of an escalator handrail and simulating optical distributions of UV-C irradiation on the handrail's surface according to light-emitting diode (LED) positions and reflector variations in the sterilizers. Pasteurization experiments with the UV-C LED sterilizers are conducted on six types of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, with exposure times of 0.2, 5, and 15 s at an actual installation distance of 20 mm. The sterilization rates for the gram-positive bacteria are 10.63% to 27.94% at 0.2 s, 89.44% to 96.30% at 5 s, and 99.64% to 99.88% at 15 s. Those for the gram-negative bacteria are 57.70% to 77.63% at 0.2 s, 98.90% to 99.49% at 5 s, and 99.88% to 99.99% at 15 s. The power consumption of the UV-C LED sterilizer is about 8 W, which can be supplied by a self-generation module instead of an external power supply.