Chemical Fogging for Sanitisation

Mega Hire offers sanitisation fogging equipment for hire in Brisbane. It can be delivered to the greater Brisbane/Ipswich area or collected from our Acacia Ridge store. The equipment is a standalone unit that is setup in a static position inside a room. It releases a sanitizing chemical that ‘fogs’ the entire space in minutes. The purpose of chemical fogging for sanitisation is to kill viruses and pathogens (including the COVID-19 virus), and is ideal for use in communal spaces such as office buildings, childcare centres, schools, hospitals, retail areas, shopping centres, movie theatres etc. Chemical fogging is also safe to use in domestic houses. It is non-toxic and breaks down in UV light, so does not leave any residue on surfaces.

Description of the Sanitisation Fogging Process

Sanitisation fogging is the process where a chemical is sprayed from equipment with the use of compressed air through fine nozzles, producing ultra-fine droplets (~10µm). Due to their small size, the droplets evaporate into the air almost instantly, effectively producing a chemical gas, or “fog”, to move throughout rooms, ducts, confined spaces and around intricate objects etc. to kill pathogens and viruses.

The benefits of chemical fogging for sanitization is that large areas with intricate spaces or objects can be very quickly and effectively sanitised. The fog makes its way into crevices or soft materials where manual cleaning is time consuming or just too difficult.

Chemical fogging is used in hospitals for sanitising wards of infectious diseases, and food factories to kill mould spores and pathogens in areas that must be kept hygienic.

Fogging chemical information and efficacy

It is important to note that chemical foggers should only be used with appropriate chemicals. That is to say chemicals with properties which are not only compatible with the fogging process, but more importantly are still effective at killing viruses and pathogens when applied as a fog. A bleach solution will kill viruses and pathogens, but it doesn’t necessarily perform the same when applied through a fogger!

When hiring the fogging equipment from Mega Hire, we also supply the chemical from our Brisbane store. It is a sanitiser from Klarion, which has demonstrated efficacy against human coronavirus, poliovirus, and norovirus as well as many other pathogens. These viruses are more resilient to disinfection than SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that is causing the COVID-19 pandemic). The chemical is also recognised by the EPA for its efficacy in killing viruses and pathogens - the efficacy guide is available for download here. You can also see the chemical Safety Data Sheet here. 

The chemical also has the following beneficial properties:

• Non-toxic; produces no fumes (PPE not required while handling)
• Safety training not required for handling the chemical
• Eye and skin safe; fragrance free
• Does not produce residues on any surfaces
• Drain/disposal friendly

Fogging Equipment setup and operation

The equipment is mounted to a trolley to easily manoeuvre into position. It should be located as central as possible in the room you wish to sanitise. Raise the misting bowl up to within 500mm of the ceiling and configure the nozzles for the most appropriate spray pattern. For example – for fogging large areas, utilise all four nozzles to maximise spray coverage in all directions. Fogging hallways should only require two nozzles facing in opposite directions to spread the chemical fog along the hallway in both directions. Three nozzles are ideal for fogging out from the a wall; and two nozzles mounted at right angles are ideal for fogging from a corner.

Pour in the sanitizing chemical to the pressure vessel and set the regulator of the compressed air to the desired pressure. Mega Hire can provide advice and lookup tables to help calculate a suggested amount of chemical and air pressure based on the room volume. Air compressors are also available for hire from our Brisbane store to operate the equipment if compressed air is not available on site.

To achieve favourable outcomes when using the chemical fogger, consider the following tips:

• Humidity should be at a minimum before commencing chemical fogging (ideally <20% relative humidity). To minimise humidity in the room, turn the air conditioners on full fan and as cold as possible to dehumidify the room. Following this, change the air conditioners to heating mode to return the room temperature back to at least 25c. These steps will help maximise evaporation of the chemical and prevent condensation forming.
• Use pedestal fans, wall mounted air conditioners or ducted air conditioners to maximise air circulation in the room. This will ensure the chemical fog is distributed evenly around the room and will also help prevent condensation forming.
• Fogging will be most effective when rooms are sealed – close all windows and doors, use door snakes for bottoms of doors and tape to seal significant gaps.
• To confirm that the sanitizing chemical has obtained good coverage throughout the room, place chemical test strips at different locations before fogging. These will change colour as the chemical comes into contact with them. These are also available at our Brisbane store.

Once fogging is complete, shut off the flow of compressed air to the equipment and allow the room to sit for 30 minutes. Check the test strips at the different locations around the room to ensure they have changed colour, which indicates that the chemical has reached all areas.