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 PhD 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: 21-23m 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

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Plants purify the air – in closed chambers

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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

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

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

My work so far System setup 19/22

My work so far Removal of toluene by 80% removed after 8 hours = 60  g/m 2 /h Hedera helix 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.vitality4life.com.au/clean-air/why-purchase-an-air-filter/ http://kontorindretning.blogspot.com/ http://www.houseofplants.co.uk/healthytop10.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--image3234482 http://www.ambius.com/ambius-catalogs/tabletop-credenza-plants/hedera-helix/index.html

http://www.engrish.com

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