politics arts nation world economy science health education teachersThe RundownTV SCHEDULE As lava flow threatens their town, Hawaii students create DIY air purifier For many of the hundreds of residents of Pahoa, on the island of Hawaii, the last eight months have been a time of fear and uncertainty. The town is located downslope from the Kilauea volcano. In June, a stream of hot lava began inching its way toward the community, stalling at times but then starting again. In November, the lava engulfed the local transfer station. A major fear is the lava flow may cut off the main road connecting the town to the rest of the island. But for some students in Pahoa, the lava threat has also been a source of inspiration. “I told my students that we can work the problem or we can let the problem work us.” said Eric Clause, a STEM teacher at the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences. As a class project, Clause and his students chose to work the problem and develop tools the town could use to cope with the volcano.

The students focused on how they might be able to take on vog, what locals call the foggy haze of harmful aerosols created when thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide put out by the volcano mix with the air. After months of brainstorming and designing, their first tool was ready: a so-called “vog scrubber” which purifies the air around homes of volcanic gases. Today, the scrubber is being used by families in Pahoa. Spurred by their scrubber’s success, the students are forging ahead with research on power pole protectors and heat-resistant bridges to allow travel over recent lava flows. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. For hundreds of thousands of years, eruptions lasting a few days or weeks have been common. Lately, the volcano has been unusually explosive. For the last 32 years, it’s been erupting non-stop with no signs of quieting. “The volcano could continue erupting for decades or the eruption might stop in the next few weeks.”

Steve Brantley of the U.S. Geological Survey said. “We really don’t have a way of determining or estimating when the volcano may stop erupting.”doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2010.00650.x.Author information1International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark. jakol@byg.dtu.dkAbstractThe effect of a photocatalytic air purifier on perceived air quality (PAQ) was examined in rooms polluted by typical sources of indoor pollution. The rooms were ventilated at three different outdoor air supply rates. The air quality was assessed by a sensory panel when the purifier was in operation as well as when it was off. Operation of the purifier significantly improved PAQ in the rooms polluted by building materials (used carpet, old linoleum, and old chipboard), and a used ventilation filter as well as a mixture of building materials, used ventilation filter and cathode-ray tube computer monitors. The effect corresponded to approximately doubling the outdoor air supply rate.

Operation of the purifier significantly worsened the PAQ in rooms with human bioeffluents, probably due to incomplete oxidation of alcohols which are one of the main pollutants emitted by humans. Present results show that the photocatalytic air purifier can supplement ventilation when the indoor air is polluted by building-related sources, but should not be used in spaces where human bioeffluents constitute the main source of pollution.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The present results suggest that a photocatalytic air purifier can supplement ventilation when the indoor air is polluted mainly by building-related sources, for example in unoccupied buildings outside working hours when ventilation is considerably reduced or turned off and pollutants build up and adsorb on indoor surfaces. car air duct treatmentThe results also suggest that use of a photocatalytic air purifier should be avoided when humans are present and constitute main source of pollution.air purifier for artist studio

PMID: 20573125 DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2010.00650.x [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Publication TypesResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tMeSH TermsAdsorptionAir ConditioningAir Pollution, Indoor/analysis*Air Pollution, Indoor/prevention & controlCatalysisConstruction Materials/analysis*Environmental HealthFiltration/instrumentation*HeatingHousing*HumansOxidation-ReductionPhotochemistry/methods*Task Performance and AnalysisVentilationFull Text SourcesWileyIngenta plcOvid Technologies, Inc.Other Literature SourcesCOS Scholar UniverseMedicalIndoor Air Pollution - MedlinePlus Health Informationclean room hvac design Bought a house recently that has a Honeywell F300 whole electric house air purifier/cleaner. The cell's aluminum fins have a black baked-on dust that I expect is preventing the unit from working as efficiently as possible. The manual states it is safe to power wash. What sort of cleaner product or brush would be best for cleaning the aluminum slots?

Browse other questions tagged hvac furnace aluminum or ask your own question.Budget Prep: Air Filter You can build your own air filtration system using only inexpensive parts from the hardware store. You Can't Let Evil Win Don't Betray the Colony Budget Prep: Air Filter Bizarre Bunker: Underground RV Let's Learn From the PreppersThis is the mother of all hacks, the genius device that saved the Apollo XIII crew from dying in their emergency return to Earth, as photographed during that trip using one of their Hasselblad cameras. Here are the actual step-by-step instructions that helped turn this mission into NASA's most successful failure ever.After Mission Control decided to cancel Apollo XIII's moon landing following an explosion of an oxygen tank in the Service Module, the astronauts moved to the Lunar Module in order to save power that was going to be needed later for re-entry. The only problem with this plan was that the Lunar Module was designed for only two people for a 36-hour period, not three astronauts for 96 hours.

They quickly discovered that carbon dioxide was building up fast, putting their lives in extreme danger. They had to change the circular CO2 scrubbers in the Lunar Module for clean ones, but they only had spare square CO2 scrubbers from the Command Module.In record time, the Crew Systems Division put together an improvised adapter using all sort of weird and random parts, like a flight manual cover, suit parts, and socks. CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) transmitted the instructions to the astronauts in order to assemble this "mailbox" rig—as they called it—working against the clock and trying to surive fight the effects of the poisonous gas which was quickly asphyxiating their brains.INTRODUCTIONThis procedure, which takes approximately one hour to complete, will allow the fitting of a square Odyssey Command Module (CM) scrubber filter through the Aquarius Lunar Module's (LM) round mounted filtration hole and will modify the Environmental Systems scrubber unit. The material is for astronauts to use when CO2 scrubbers fail in the CM, all CM filters are used or in other situations where additional scrubbing of CO2 is required.

Crew Systems Division assembled and tested this information. REQUIRED EQUIPMENT and MATERIALSAll required equipment is contained onboard within the Apollo 13 CM and LM. Cover to the Apollo 13 flight plan (to cover and protect the hose entry) 2 hoses from the red suits1 bungee cord (to secure the modified filtration device to the wall of the LM) PROCEEDURE - 19 steps#1) Place the LCG bag over the top of the square lithium-hydroxide canister. The bag must be pulled down to just over the triangular ventilator slots on the side.NOTE: Be careful not to rip the bag because there are only three bags onboard.#2) Tear the duct tape down the middle lengthwise to double the linear length. #3) Seal the bag to the square canister by wrapping the duct tape around the canister where the bag opening is.NOTE: The tape must seal the opening to prevent leakage of air flow. #4) Poke or cut a hole in the middle of the top of the covering bag approximately the diameter of the hose from the red suit. #5) Insert the hose into the hole.

Secure the hose connection into the LCG bag with duct tape.#6) Cover the top of the LCG bag and hose attachment with the flight plan cover in an arch. The hose will stick out of one side of the arch. #7) Attach the two sides of the cardboard flight plan cover that make contact with the square filter using a six inch long piece of duct tape over the top. This will prevent crushing the hose and air entry on the final mounting in step #19. #8) Wrap the entire top sides of the filter cube with a three foot (about an arms length) piece of duct tape. Repeat wrapping on the bottom of the sides of the cube.NOTE: The tape must seal the opening to prevent leakage of air flow.#9) Secure the bag with strips of duct tape two per side running from one side, under the bottom and back up the other side. Repeat on the other side. The bottom of the cube will resemble a tic tac toe board when this step is completed. #10) Stuff the sock into the ventration hole in the center of the square scrubber. This will prevent the air from bypassing the filter.

Cover the hole with a couple of pieces of tape to keep it from falling out.#11) Repeat steps #3 through #10 for the second canister. This will be the replacement when the first filter becomes saturated. #12) Open the sensor relief valve. This will normalize the pressure and allow you to attach the hose to the intake valve. #13) Attach the free end of the hose to the scrubber intake. #14) Attach the end of the bungee cord to the hook above the lithium canister mounting location on the bulkhead. #15) Secure the canister to the bulkhead by hooking the other end of the bungee cord below the mounting location. #16) Attach the crossover hose to the secondary air cleaner. #17) Close the sensor relief valve opened in step 12. #18) Set the CO2 select to secondary using the LM air cleaner selection switch on panel eleven. #19) Engage the air cleaning scrubber fan by flipping the ACSF switch located on panel eleven. VERIFICATIONCheck the CO2 levels on the partial pressure (marked PART PRES C02) meter on panel eleven.

The level should begin to fall (safe level of partial pressure is below eight (8)). Further verification will be indicated through the amber CO2 warning light set to illuminate if the level is above ten (10).Reminder: CO2 levels above 15 can be fatal and will cause brain asphyxia, impaired judgment and blackoutsTROUBLESHOOTINGIf the canister seals are not correct in steps #3, #5 and #8, CO2 cleaning may not be adequate. You will recognize this if you hear a whooshing sound when the system starts. Re-tape the seal that is leaking.If the LCG bags get ripped air flow may leak out and fail to clean the CO2. Use the spare bag if this happens. That's John L. Swigert working on the "mailbox" rig with Jim Lovell. It seems amazing to me that he looks so calm and cool when they were actually being poisoned by their own CO2 and without knowing if they were going to make it alive to Earth. The actual scrubber in the upper hatch tunnel as shot from the Lunar Module. The Apollo XIII movie did a great job at replicating all this: