Testing the humidification of ELPO plantbot in 200m2 office with ARANET
Indoor environment can be improved by so called active green walls. One such technology is ELPO – a biofilter that cleans and humidifies the indoor air by forcing it through a ceramic substrate where plants and microorganisms remove the harmful particles and substances.
KO TU ELPO team has evaluated ELPO’s impact on humidity levels indoors by testing it in real-world conditions with cutting-edge air quality sensors – Aranet4. They are state-of-the-art wireless monitoring devices that produce large amount of data simultaneously from as many as 100 sensors and save them on one autonomous gateway where information about CO2, temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity can be monitored continuously.
Measurements were made every minute, cumulating in a detailed picture spanning many weeks. Not only can the data show the humidity differences between before and after the installation of the biofilter in different points of the testing location, but it also can show how ventilation dynamics and outside temperature impact ELPO’s performance (e.g. low temperature leads to poor humidity indoors).
Tests revealed a positive impact of ELPO on indoor humidity. 10-13 litres of water evaporated daily from each of the six biofilters located in 200 m2 large office space, which lead to improvement of air humidity by as much as 15%. It was very rare for the humidity to drop under 40%, which is excellent for the heating season when the measurements were conducted.
While doing the tests, not only was the ELPO’s ability to improve indoor climate quantified, but also practical experience was acquired about where to best put the biofilters, how many are needed for the space and how ventilation impacts their efficiency. We can now recommend one ELPO per 50 m2 of a room with optimized (PID) ventilation, in order to avoid the consequences of inadequate humidity in the winter – dry eyes, more frequent coughing and sneezing and even higher frequency of illness.