Patent ID: 8758681

Claim:
A free radical sterilization system comprising: a) a chamber for containing items to be sterilized; b) an effluent generator having an input coupled to the chamber and an output coupled to the chamber for closed-loop circulation, comprising: i) a blower/distributor comprising a blower having an input coupled to the input of the effluent generator and at least one output, and a flow distributor for distributing blower flow from the at least one output of the blower to at least a first output and a second output in selected portions; ii) a plasma electric free radical generator having an input coupled to the first output of the blower/distributor and an output coupled to the output of the effluent generator; and iii) a vaporizer having an input coupled to the second output of the blower, and an output coupled to the output of the effluent generator, the vaporizer contacting a liquid sterilizing agent with the output of the blower/distributor to produce bactericidal effluent at the output of the vaporizer; such that bactericidal effluent from the effluent generator flows through the chamber and back through the effluent generator in a closed loop without an intervening free-radical destroyer.