Electrostatic precipitators kill virus

Vincent J. Curtis

24 Oct 20

RE: Air quality key to gym patron protection.  Hamilton Spectator 24 Oct 20.

This letter by John Anderson demonstrates why central planning doesn’t work.  The planners lack sufficient knowledge to run everything.

Mr. Anderson explains why ventilation, which is essential to protecting gym patrons from the virus, won’t work in wintertime: the cold air of outside needs to be exchanged with the warm air inside, and the heating requirements for comfort are simply too great.  Anderson is mistaken in concept.

It is easy to imagine an electrostatic precipitator to filter the air of the gym.  Warm air from the gym is forced through the filter, the electrostatics remove and kill the virus, and the filtered air is returned to the gym without the need for heat.  With a little engineering, ductwork can be put in front of the exercise stations to grab the air exhausted by the patrons and direct it to the filter system.  A little more engineering can muffle the sound of the forced air circulation.

In a bar, a fume hood of sorts can be placed over a table, and the same idea of grabbing air, forcing it through an electrostatic precipitator, and returning it to the room without the need for heating or cooling is employed.  The only annoyance might be the sound of forced air circulation.

The knowledge for coping with the virus while carrying on normal business is out there.  But the central planners don’t know of it, and simply have too little experience with a free market to rely on it.

-30-