The year was 1951. The Yankees won the world series, The African Queen debuted on the silver screen, and in a small shop on the south side of Chicago, D. William Fuller designed and manufactured the first Sterile Conditioning System.

Germicidal ultraviolet technology dates back about one hundred years since the first patents were issued in the United States. Most of the present knowledge of UV effectiveness was developed during the first half of the 1900s by researchers at Westinghouse and General Electric - the two companies that were manufacturing the germicidal UV lamps at that time.

The intense rivalry that existed between these two companies (for a number of reasons) often omitted including details of studies in published papers - only the results.

Most of the research was directed towards control of the then ever-increasing list of pathogenic microorganisms in air and water.  Undoubtedly, the staggering death toll worldwide during the "Great Flu Epidemic" of 1918-1919 was a major influence.  Interest and usage of germicidal UV largely dropped off after WW II because of the availability and initial effectiveness of penicillin and other low cost antibiotics.

A few companies - Fuller UV was one - began expanding the until then limited use of UV into non-medical areas. One of these new areas was sugar solution storage tanks.

Original Sterile Conditioner (1951-1974)

 
Our experience was gained in terms of combinations of lamp or lamp arrays with different motor/blower and filter arrangements for different tank capacities.  As tank size increased, so did the size and complexity of our units.

We rely on actual results rather than calculated effects due to the complexity and variability of conditions and governing factors.  In the past 50 years, we have designed and built thousands of Sterile Conditioners for use on liquid sugar and sweetener tanks in many countries.

These systems were a breakthrough in introducing clean air into a sugar storage tank, keeping microbial contaminants from the sugar being stored, while preventing condensation build up. Food processing companies saw the need for this and Fuller responded, with more products offering protection in their manufacturing systems. UVC Majors became popular in meat lockers, food prep rooms, and other areas where clean air was necessary for extending shelf life to products. Water purification products also entered into the Fuller product line.

The Late 1960's, Fuller introduces the Sentry, known today as the Diplomat. The Sentry provided air purification for industrial and commercial HVAC applications. A 2 and 4 lamp system were designed and manufactured at Fuller.

The 70's brought about a wide variety of applications and products. Our Mobile Room Sterilizer, the C- 4 and C- 5 ozone generators, UV lamp monitoring systems, just to name a few were introduced. Fuller outgrows the original shop at 75th St. in Chicago and relocates to Dolton, Il.

 

The 80's and 90's were very productive in the sense of sterile conditioning products. Our products extended overseas to meet the needs of many sugar processing facilities worldwide. To date, our sterile conditioning products can be found in over 20 countries. The Germitroll is introduced, the FG100 ozone generator, and the FG 4918 ozone generator.

The Year 2000 sees a major growth in Conveyor Line Systems. Destruction of specific pathogens and a  general treatment of mass produced products raises the bar for ultraviolet technology and design.