AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Performance of Wearable Ionization Air Cleaners: Ozone Emission and Particle Removal
Shanshan Shi, Shihao Zhu, Eon Lee, Bin Zhao, YIFANG ZHU, University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract Number: 316 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Wearable ionization air cleaners are compact in size and marketed for personal respiratory protection by removing air pollutants from users’ breathing zone. In this study, ozone emission and particle removal rates of four wearable ionization air cleaners (namely, AC1 through AC4) were evaluated in a 0.46 m$^3 stainless steel chamber with a typical indoor air exchange rate of 0.5 h$^(-1). Ozone emission rates of the wearable ionization air cleaners were determined from continuous measurements of ozone concentration inside the chamber. Particle size distribution within measured size range (18.1-289 nm) and mass concentration of PM$_(2.5) were also measured to estimate the particle removal rates. This study found two of the four wearable air cleaners (i.e., AC1 and AC2) had notable ozone emissions. The ten-hour average ozone emission rates were substantially different (i.e., 0.67 and 0.03 mg/h) between AC1 and AC2; however, the ozone emission was not detected from the other two tested devices (i.e., AC3 and AC4). The averaged particle number removal rates were highly variable (i.e., 2.39, -0.07, 5.66, and 16.3 h$^(-1) for AC1 through AC4, respectively). The corresponding PM$_(2.5) mass removal rates of AC1 through AC4 were 1.85, 0.48, 1.52, and 5.37 mg/h, respectively. These findings can assist the public for informed decision-making when using wearable air cleaners.