Advanced oxidizing technologies (AOTs) are finding increased acceptance in the HVAC industry for a variety of reasons. AOTs are technologies that create aggressive oxidizing hydroxyl radicals to achieve oxidation performance increases in the range of one million to one billion over more traditional oxidizing agents such as ozone1.
Photocatalysis is an AOT that uses a metal salt catalyst like titanium dioxide (TiO2) in combination with photolysis from UV light to generate these radicals. AOTs are common in medical, semiconductor, and other high-tech industries, but have only recently been considered feasible in the HVAC industry due to advances in their application to make them economically attractive for airside usage.