Tackling climate change, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, improving quality of life for millions of people are some of the points in the to-do list for most of humanity in recent decades. Advancements in technology have been helping many achieve the quality of life that we all strive for, but one of the resulting issues is the air that we breathe has become much more polluted. Progress still needs to be made in order to improve the air quality and availability of clean air, both indoors and outdoors.
An adult usually breathes 15,000 litres of air every day. Pure air quality that we should ideally breathe in, has taken the brunt due to the development of industries, vehicles, etc which directly affects us. The pollutants not only contain harmful gases but also tiny particulate matter which when breathed in eventually settles in our bloodstream causing several health problems.
Carbon monoxide (CO) a colourless, odourless, tasteless, and toxic air pollutant considered worse than even Carbon-dioxide (CO2) is produced when incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels, such as gasoline, natural gas, oil, coal, and wood takes place. The largest amount of CO emissions is considered to be from vehicles.
Breathing the high concentrations of CO typical of a polluted environment leads to reduced oxygen (O2) transport by haemoglobin and has health effects that include headaches, increased risk of chest pain for persons with heart disease, and impaired reaction timing.
To act on these issues, an HVAC systems provider took up the challenge to improve air quality in an office setting.
They used RENU’s FL004 Low Cost PLC along with FLA0400-14 (analogue input expansion module) coupled with RENU’s Advanced HMI FP4043TN. They used special Carbon Monoxide detecting sensors to detect the presence of carbon monoxide in the office area.
The FL004 was programmed to measure the CO levels and compare against thresholds. Exhaust fans and dampers were programmed to be operated accordingly as the levels of the CO increased. This helped maintain a safe level of breathable air quality in the atmosphere at the workplace.
The FP4043TN Advanced 4.3″ HMI displayed the status, and it also uploaded the operational data to an FTP server where every minute of action was recorded. This recorded data was then displayed in a graphical format eventually on a web server accessible only to the customer’s maintenance personnel.
In this way, the CO levels were effectively controlled in the building, and the maintenance personnel were able to monitor the system operation in real time.
This system could easily be expanded to also control carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, produced when too many people are in an enclosed space for a period of time, and other pollutants, by adding suitable sensors.
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Article Courtesy of RENU Electronics.
