Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

In situ investigation of NOᵪ photocatalytic degradation: Case study in an open space office in Manchester, UK

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NO2 outdoor concentrations
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Submitted   Sep 30, 2019
Published   Oct 15, 2019
Issue    Vol 1 No 1 (2020)
DOI   10.25082/HE.2019.01.003

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Julie Hot corresponding author
LMDC, INSA/UPS G´enie Civil, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
Paul Bradley
Guard Industry, Office 2, Chipstead Road, Birmingham B23 5HD, United Kingdom
Jayson Cooper
Guard Industry, Office 2, Chipstead Road, Birmingham B23 5HD, United Kingdom
Barnabé Wayser
Guard Industrie, 7 Rue Gutenberg, 93108 Montreuil, France
Erick Ringot
LMDC, INSA/UPS G´enie Civil, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4, France & LRVision SARL, 13 Rue du D´eveloppement, 31320 Castanet-Tolosan France

Abstract

Indoor air is contaminated by numerous pollutants, which impact human health, comfort and productivity. These pollutants have various indoor sources such as building materials, furniture, combustion appliances or tobacco smoke. However, the pollution also comes from outside. In urban area, nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted into the atmosphere can reach alarming levels. These traffic-related pollutants, which seriously impact the global environment and human health, can infiltrate inside buildings. Therefore, limiting the amount of breathable NOx in outdoor and indoor environments is an important priority for the modern society. The photocatalytic process has attracted particular attention in the last two decades and has proved to be efficient to reduce the concentration of NOx. However, further work has to be conducted to assess its efficiency in real indoor environments. The purpose of this paper was to report on the indoor air quality in an open space office in Manchester, UK. Focus was made on nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The indoor concentrations of both gases were monitored from 14 January 2019 to 7 April 2019. During this period, a photocatalytic coating was applied to a part of the indoor wall. The influence of this coating on the level of NOx was assessed by comparing the indoor concentrations before and after the application. An attention was paid to the correlation between outdoor and indoor pollution and to the effect of other parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure and O3 concentration. The results showed that the photocatalytic process led to a decrease in the NOx concentration. The likelihood to find concentrations above 35 ppb for NO and 7.5 ppb for NO2 was clearly reduced after the coating application.

Keywords
nitrogen oxides, in situ, office, photocatalysis, titanium dioxide, indoor air quality

Article Details

How to Cite
Hot, J., Bradley, P., Cooper, J., Wayser, B., & Ringot, E. (2019). In situ investigation of NOᵪ photocatalytic degradation: Case study in an open space office in Manchester, UK. Health and Environment, 1(1), 28-37. https://doi.org/10.25082/HE.2019.01.003
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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