Ventilation Made Easy
Researchers at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry developed a ventilation system removing 90% of respiratory aerosols, including possible coronavirus particles. Tested in a Mainz school, the €200 system aims to enhance indoor air quality, potentially reducing Covid-19 transmission and improving student focus.
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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have developed a simple ventilation system that can remove around 90% of respiratory aerosols, potentially including coronavirus particles, from indoor air. The system, tested in a school in Mainz, consists of hoods above each desk that collect warm exhaled air and direct it outside through a central duct. The design, costing about €200 in DIY store materials, is being considered for implementation in other schools by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education. The system, created by Frank Helleis, aims to provide a cost-effective and practical solution for improving indoor air quality in classrooms, reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission. The researchers are working on making the system easier to replicate and believe it could also help reduce CO2 levels in classrooms, benefiting students' concentration. The system's documentation is available online, and discussions are ongoing for wider implementation in educational settings.
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7 commentsHere's a blog post with illustrations:
https://blog.hoffman-hoffman.com/blog/the-basics-of-displace...
This is a neat idea that seems penny smart and pound foolish. For one, the article does not address overall system reliability and maintenance tempo. Given a low material to install cost ratio this is an important factor since repeated re-installation or rework will moot any cost savings from materials.
For two, ejecting the gases that have been expensively conditioned for thermal and humidity properties will drive up operating costs since replacement gasses will be required.
For three, hopefully they carefully plan for where the system exhausts since they have made something that concentrates contaminants as well as it evacuates them. To the extent that it uses tragedy of the commons to get better odds for people indoors by worsening odds for people outside that building, the primary innovation of the system is statistical arbitrage based on a larger outdoor volume.
Really glad it is over and that it never got the point of me ever seeing such a thing.
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