Improving air quality in vehicles
Aiming to provide a healthy, comfortable and safe environment for the driver and the passengers, the CLEANRCAB project generated a novel, cost-efficient and modular air quality management system in vehicles. The system is based on an innovative plasma-based catalytic process for destruction of gaseous pollutants and an advanced electrostatic technology for removal of fine aerosol particles. Moreover, the system involves air monitoring and enhanced driver/vehicle interfaces for air quality awareness as well as preventive maintenance information. Research work involved the formulation of suitable catalysts for purifying the cabin environment from harmful gaseous pollutants, such as ozone and the volatile organic compound (VOC) toluene. Four different catalysts were developed and located downstream to the plasma reactor. These were porous alumina (Al2O3), manganese oxide supported over porous alumina (MnO2/Al2O3), gold supported over zinc oxide (Au/ZnO) and an industrial catalyst (N150). Extensive testing showed that the best ozone removal was achieved with the Au/ZnO catalyst and for toluene removal, the MnO2/Al2O3 one. These findings showed that nanodispersed gold particles are suitable for CO2 selectivity and ozone removal, while manganese oxide can lead to toluene conversion. The powerful combination of catalyst-plasma technology is highly suitable, not only for automotives, but also for larger vehicles such as trucks, buses and trains. This is mainly due to the reduction of constraints imposed by the size and the energy consumption of the system.
