Investigation of the effect of air cleaners on tetrachlortylen

This project aims to investigate what effect a mechanical air cleaner has on the content of tetrachlorethylene in room air.

NIRAS has developed a mechanical air cleaner in cooperation with Østergaard Filter ApS, Funen County and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. In connection with preventive measures the air cleaners aim to reduce the concentrations of gaseous pollution, especially chlorinated compounds, in the room air of habitable rooms in dwellings. The distinctive features of the air cleaners are a fan, a dust filter and an activated-carbon filter mounted in a sound-insulated cabinet.

At the Institute's air quality laboratory a number of experiments are carried out to study the effect of the air cleaner. Tetrachlorethylene will be continuously emitted at a constant rate from an emission chamber especially made for the experiments. Different emission rates corresponding to different equilibrium concentrations will be used. Two different air cleaners (ground-floor model and basement model) will be studied at different performances of the incorporated fan. The objective is to achieve a general description of the reduction in the equilibrium concentration in relation to the fan performance and the ventilation rate in the test chamber. A number of supplementary experiments will be carried out including experiments on the saturation of carbon-charcoal filters.

The project will conclude with a report prepared by SBi with contributions from the Technical Department of Storstrøm County.