Plasma catalysis for in-vehicle air quality
The aim of the CLEANRCAB project was to provide a comfortable and safe environment for drivers and their passengers. This was achieved through the development of an innovative and effective air quality management system for within vehicles. The work is of particular benefit to children, the elderly and asthmatics, who are the groups most vulnerable to pollution when being transported. The CLEANRCAB consortium comprised nine partners from four EU countries plus Switzerland and included industrial groups, SMEs, universities and research institutes. The research team developed a system which purifies the air by breaking down gaseous pollutants using an innovative plasma catalysis process. Scientists investigated the efficiency of the plasma catalyst device in removing toluene and observed that an increase in energy improved its efficiency. Furthermore, the system could become even more efficient with the addition of the catalyst manganese oxide supported on activated carbon. The CLEANRCAB team found that concentrations of toluene as high as seven parts per million (ppm) could be completely removed with an energy density of only 15 joules per litre (J/L). Researchers carried out experiments which revealed that the plasma efficiency in the removal of Volatile organic compounds (VOC) increased when the VOC concentration decreased. Therefore, the amount of energy required outside the laboratory under real conditions would be expected to be lower. The results indicated that for the plasma catalyst system to work most efficiently it should be installed in the largest vehicles, such as trucks buses and trains. This is because more energy is available in a heavy vehicle than compared to a car and constraints are less severe regarding the size and energy consumption of the system.
