A hospitality facility needed a solution to remove odors including:
- The scent of smoke in rooms where guests had smoked or vaped
- The stale and sweaty smell in the gym and locker room
Some common areas have UVC air purifiers installed, but they are not in every guest room due to cost and noise complaints. Whole-room air purifiers were temporarily used, but the smell returned within a few hours.
They concluded that air purifiers only treated the air, not the surface-based source of the odors. They also realized that air fresheners only masked the smell and did not resolve the underlying issue.
They used one EPIC iO AURA unit for a safe two-hour cycle, which then signaled when it was safe for housekeeping to re-enter and the unit to be relocated to another room. The room was ready for guests within 12-24 hours, depending on ventilation.
Housekeeping activities, such as vacuuming, wiping, and mopping, achieved visible cleanliness but were never expected to kill germs. The AURA gently disinfected all surfaces in the room, making it safer for guests.
EPIC iO AURA uses AI and IoT to run each deodorizing and disinfection cycle autonomously.
The chart below shows precisely what happened in a room during the two-hour cycle from 8-10 AM. The purple line represents the ozone concentration in the room, which hovered around the target value of 1.0 PPM, and the blue line shows how hard the unit was working to maintain 1.0 PPM. The power level fluctuated between 25% and 75% as the HVAC cycled on and off in the room during the cycle.
The cycle ended at 10 AM, and the unit waited for the unspent ozone to convert back into pure oxygen, which lasted about 50 minutes. By 11 AM, it was completely safe to re-enter.
Two Sources of Odor
1. Chemical: This includes TVOCs (total volatile organic compounds) – molecules that leave the solid or liquid state on surfaces to become airborne. EPIC iO AURA neutralizes them in the air but far more importantly at the source, where they are invisible residues on surfaces.
2. Biological: Different strains of bacteria release different kinds of gasses, which is why yogurt smells different from sweaty gyms. EPIC iO AURA kills the bacteria – the actual source of the problem. Masking the smell with air fresheners only works temporarily because the bacteria continue producing gas.
Control
EPIC iO AURA uses AI and IoT to harness the power of ozone as a powerful deodorizer and disinfectant, allowing it to touch every corner of a room with no involvement from housekeeping. It evaluates the room many times a second, constantly adapting to the slightest environmental variations, including HVAC cycles and the dropping level of contamination.
Safety
EPIC iO AURA substitutes harsh chemicals and aggressive scrubbing with a gentle, low, and slow approach which takes longer but is equally effective but harmless. This approach and safety sensors ensure that staff and guests are always safe.
Executive Summary
The solution consisted of a portable EPIC iO AURA™ unit brought into a room and a 5-step process:
- Power up the unit near the middle of the room with the HVAC running
- Vacate the room, lock the door, and hang the warning sign on the handle
- Remotely start the two-hour cycle
- Re-enter the room when the system says it is ready, and move the unit to the next room
- If there are windows, open them to add fresh air to the clean room
Guests can reoccupy the room within 12-24 hours, depending on the amount of fresh air introduced.
Related Customer Stories
