Active Soil Filter System for Indoor Air Purification in School Classrooms

Sungwan Son, Aya Elkamhawy and Choon-Man Jang ()
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Sungwan Son: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea
Aya Elkamhawy: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea
Choon-Man Jang: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: An active soil filter system was newly designed and evaluated to obtain a higher removal efficiency of fine particulate matter (PM) for indoor air purification in schools. Unlike passive air purification systems that remove PM using only plant leaves, air purification can be maximized by filtering polluted indoor air directly between the soil particles supporting the plant. The novel system is composed of a composite soil layer and a suction blower that forces outside air into the soil layer. It was found that the air purification performance was improved as the inflow air velocity upstream of the soil is decreased and the soil stacking height increased. The lower the soil moisture, the better the air purification performance. Considering both the classroom environment and the system’s energy consumption, it is recommended that the soil stacking height is 150 mm, the soil inflow air velocity is 2 cm/s, and the relative humidity is 35%. Under these conditions, the air purification efficiency for PM 2.5 is 41.5%. The indoor air purification system using the soil filter system, along with the currently used plant leaves medium, is expected to improve the indoor air quality in public facilities, such as school classrooms.

Keywords: active soil filter; indoor air purification; particulate matter (PM); air quality; school classroom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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