231- IELN| Purify the Air Supply

Purify the Air Supply

Has your time spent indoors increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of stay-at-home and shelter-in-place policies worldwide? Your challenge is to use the International Space Station (ISS) as inspiration and develop a system to monitor and/or purify indoor air. It is entirely up to you whether the system you design is able to be used on Earth (for example in homes, businesses, transportation, etc.) and/or in space.

Air Purifier and Droplet Collector - Purifier IELN

Summary

Based on what has been raised, we know that the air quality of the environment presented by infected people is essential, both for the non-worsening of respiratory syndromes caused by Sars-CoV-2, and to stop the spread of the virus in the environment. With this, the chosen solution is a device integrated with a network of sensors that monitors in real time the amount of harmful gases present in the environment and, from that, activates the air filtration purifying it.

How We Addressed This Challenge

The project could be a great resource in times of pandemic and largely meets the challenge that must be solved. Currently, although there are different types of purifiers on the market, based on the survey done, none present the resources we propose. It meets the current need that we have due to the long period of time that we have to spend indoors, using existing resources and integrating this into a more accessible interface. However, we know that the technologies and their integration can be improved with the help of specialists, mainly in the area of

filtration. 

How We Developed This Project

Existing technologies were raised that can be integrated into the project and demonstrate its viability. In the sensor network, we can use FTIR sensors that are currently used to measure levels of polluting gases in the atmosphere. In the module responsible for eliminating droplets expelled by infected patients, there are already researches related to the use of electrolysis and germicidal UV rays, such as case of the device developed by UTFPR (Federal Technological University of Paraná). Regarding the pollutant gas filter module, it is possible to implement existing filters in purifiers currently on the market or the biological filter developed for the International Space Station that uses microorganisms to remove contaminants.The parameters of the tolerable harmful gas levels made available in an ESA document served as a parameter to elaborate the sensor strategy. The biggest challenge encountered was time and difficulty in prototyping hardware without having experience in competitions like this.

Project Demo
Data & Resources
Tags
#hardware #qualidade do ar
Global Judging
This project was submitted for consideration during the Space Apps Global Judging process.