Deactivation of organisms using high-intensity pulsed polychromatic light

Abstract

A system of deactivating microorganisms in water involves illuminating the microorganisms using at least one short-duration, high-intensity pulse of broad-spectrum polychromatic light. The system includes a watertight housing having an inlet port and an outlet port for the flow water. A tubular light source for deactivating microorganisms and a tubular baffle for directing the water flow are positioned within the watertight housing. Waters enters the inlet port and flows between the watertight housing and the tubular baffle in one direction, around the end of the tubular baffle and back through the center of the tubular baffle in a second direction exiting the outlet port. In one embodiment, the inlet and outlet ports are positioned at the same end of the watertight housing. In a another embodiment, the inlet port is at the end of the watertight housing and the outlet port extends radially from the tubular baffle through the side of the watertight housing. Additionally, a removable recirculating hose may be connected from the inlet port to the outlet port for recirculating the water. A quartz jacket filled with a cooling material may be used around the tubular light source to provide cooling to the light source and spectral filtering of the light emitted from the light source. The inner surface of the baffle may be reflectorized to reflect light from the light source.