Inactivation of microorganisms by pulsed high voltage application

Abstract

Effective destruction of living cells in liquid by high-voltage pulse application has been confirmed. The survivability of the cells, and the energy efficiency of the cell destruction for various kinds of cells have been measured using different electrode geometries. Using an electrode system of the converged electric field type, reliable energy efficient cell destruction can be realized even for a high conductivity liquid. It is shown that using an intense underwater arc discharge in the rod-rod electrode system, even B. sibtilis (spores), which could never be destroyed by electric field method, can easily be inactivated and P markedly decreased less than 5 cal/cm/sub 3/.<>