Indoor air purification by plants Majbrit Dela Cruz

Indoor air purification by plants Majbrit Dela Cruz 1/22

Outline My background Background of the topic Plants purify the air – in closed chambers – in offices What will I be investigating? My work so far 2/22

My background 4+4 Ph. D student 2010 -2014 BSc in horticulture Main supervisor: Renate Müller (IJØ) Co-supervisor: Jan H. Christensen (IGM) 3/22

Background of the topic Time spend indoors: up to 90% Amount of air breathed per day: 2123 m 3 Indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air Sick-building-syndrome 4/22

Sources of indoor air pollutants 5/22

Plants purify the air – in closed chambers 6/22

Plants purify the air – in closed chambers 7/22

Plants purify the air – in closed chambers Removal of VOCs is dependent on Light intensity VOC concentration VOC and plant species VOCs being single or in mixture Micro organisms in the soil 8/22

Light intensity Increasing light intensity generally results in increased VOC removal Not always so at low light intensity 9/22

VOC concentration In absolute terms: Increasing VOC concentration results in increased VOC removal In relative terms: Increasing VOC concentration results in decreased VOC removal 10/22

VOC concentration 11/22

VOC and plant species VOC removal differs with VOC and plant species 12/22

VOCs in mixtures Removal of a single VOC is different from removal of VOCs in mixtures 13/22

Micro organisms in the soil Can account for nearly all VOC removal but plants are important for maintenance Removal by aboveground part vs. belowground part is 1: 1 at day and 1: 11 at night 14/22

Plants purify the air – in offices Only few studies Plants can to some extend reduce VOC levels 15/22

Plants purify the air – in offices Air-conditioned Naturally ventilated 16/22

What will I be investigating Watering status of the plant C-metabolism Flowering Light VOC removal by plants VOCs being single or in mixtures Temperature CO 2 Soil micro organisms 17/22

System setup My work so far Light: 45 mol/m 2/s Temperature: 20°C Light/dark: 12/12 h Adsorbent tubes Pollutant chamber CO 2 measurement CO 2 Compressor 18/22

My work so far System setup 19/22

My work so far Removal of toluene by Hedera helix 80% removed after 8 hours = 60 g/m 2/h 20/22

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Picture references http: //www. pension-emma. it/willkommen. asp http: //www. agrocangall. com/pages/frame_e. htm http: //www. vitality 4 life. com. au/clean-air/why-purchase-an-air-filter/ http: //kontorindretning. blogspot. com/ http: //www. houseofplants. co. uk/healthytop 10. htm http: //www. onetrendblog. com/410/plant-powered-air-cleaner/ http: //www. ecosignal. org/? p=4952 http: //www. nikibrown. com/designoblog/2009/11/01/funny-strang-japanese-inventions/ http: //www. hylandseeds. com/agronomy_facts. php http: //www. dreamstime. com/cartoon-virus-germ-bacteria--image 3234482 http: //www. ambius. com/ambius-catalogs/tabletop-credenza-plants/hedera-helix/index. html http: //www. engrish. com 22/22