We once had a presentation from them. I'm not smart enough to judge if the plasma really kills virus. But their tests are based on a steady state exposure in a 10'^3 chamber. The plasma has a life of 50 seconds.
note many of the pathogens have kill times in minutes, not seconds. virus seem to be killed faster (a virus doesn't have a really protective "skin" like bacteria). They said they are working on COVID-19 tests. They say it doesn't produce ozone.
assuming you want to put this into an AHU, there are the following concerns I would have:
- with 50 second life in a large chamber, I assume the ions going through a small duct and fan will encounter many more surfaces to decay. But even if we assume they live for 50 seconds, by the time they leave the diffuser, they are almost gone depending on size for the duct system. So the space receiving the air won't have many ions. If you are lucky, it "cleans" the air coming from the AHU, but not the space served. So my co-worker sneezing on me, will still infect me. Kind of the same problem like you have with any treating of the supply air.
- In rooms that receive transfer air the air is even older. So the bathroom, hallway and other spaces where you encounter many people, there is no added protection.
It probably doesn't hurt, and probably kills some viruses in the supply air, but it is NOT a substitute for other measures (distancing, masks, washing etc.). They are not horribly expensive and don't require much in maintenance or pressuredrop, like HEPA filters.
The danger I see is that a company installs that and says, or thinks, now it is safe to get everyone back into crowded spaces. Maybe they provide 1% added safety, but management will think, or claim, it is 100% safe. Like handing out dust masks to workers exposed to VOC.
