Effectiveness research on a wavy lamellar plate-type biofilter with a capillary system for the humidification of the packing material applying introinduced microorganisms

To conduct research, a new generation plate-type air treatment biofilter for removing gaseous pollutants from air has been applied under laboratory conditions. A distinguishing feature of the packing material of the biofilter includes wavy lamellar polymer plates placed to each other and producing a capillary effect of humidification. While having such an arrangement, wavy lamellar plates also have rather wide spacing (6 mm), and therefore the employment of the structure of the plate-type packing material decreases the aerodynamic resistance of the device. A wavy porous plate is made of a polymer plate that ensures stiffness. Both sides of the wavy lamellar polymer plate have attached steam exploded birch fiber pellets under which, to increase plate capillarity, not-woven caulking material is put. This technological decision allows effectively enhancing the durability of the biopacking material. The work presents the results of research on the efficiency of the biodestruction process of acetone, xylene and ammonia. With reference to the conducted investigation, the high efficiency of air treatment and microbiological activity has been established. When pollutant gases (acetone, xylene and ammonia), under a velocity of 0.08 m s–1, passed through the biopacking material, microbiological activity in the material reached on average 1×108 cfu/cm2, and air treatment efficiency made 90.7%

Reasearch and evaluation of electromagnetic fields of refrigerators

The use of refrigerators causes the occurence of electromagnetic fields that are invisible and intangible, which therefore makes difficulties in protecting ourselves from them. A refrigerator is an irreplaceable item in domestic household and thus can be hardly ignored by a modern way of human life. In order to preserve the characteristics of products, the refrigerator must operate continuously (24 hrs a day), regardless of the time of the year. This results in a huge increase in electricity consumption, which leads to energy consumption related pollution of the environment emitting CO2 gas. On these grounds, it is necessary to assess electromagnetic fields created by the refrigerator. Studies on electromagnetic fields produced by refrigerators were conducted in domestic premises where people spent a significant part of the day. For comparison purposes, five different power refrigerators were chosen (1 – 0.20 kW; 2 – 0.25 kW; 3 – 0.30 kW; 4 – 0.35 kW; 5 – 0.40 kW). The obtained results, according to the parameters of their electromagnetic fields, were presented in graphs and charts and showed that the values of electric and magnetic intensity of refrigerators depended on the distance and the power of the refrigerator. The conducted research also disclosed that none of tested refrigerators exceeded the permissible limits of electromagnetic fields. Article in Lithuanian. Šaldytuvų elektromagnetinių laukų tyrimai ir vertinimas Santrauka. Naudojant buitinę techniką susidaro elektromagnetiniai laukai. Elektromagnetiniai laukai yra nematomi ir nejuntami, tad nuo jų sunku apsisaugoti. Šaldytuvas – nepamainomas daiktas namų ūkyje, be kurio neįsivaizduojama šiuolaikinio žmogaus buitis. Kad būtų išsaugotos šaldytuve laikomų produktų savybės, šaldytuvas privalo veikti nuolatos (24 val./parą) nepriklausomai nuo metų laiko. Dėl to esti gana didelis elektros energijos suvartojimas, ir tai lemia su energijos vartojimu susijusią aplinkos taršą CO2 dujomis. Taip pat šie buitiniai prietaisai skleidžia elektromagnetinius laukus. Juos svarbu įvertinti ir palyginti su leidžiamomis higienos normų. Šaldytuvų elektromagnetinių laukų tyrimai atlikti buitinėse patalpose, kur nemažą dienos dalį praleidžia žmonės. Matavimams pasirinkti 5 skirtingo galingumo šaldytuvai (1 – 0,20 kW; 2 – 0,25 kW; 3 – 0,30 kW; 4 – 0,35 kW; 5 – 0,40 kW). Siekiant palyginti, elektromagnetinių laukų, susidarančių veikiant šaldytuvams, parametrai pateikiami diagramomis bei grafikais. Tyrimo metu nustatytos šaldytuvų elektrinio ir magnetinio stiprio reikšmės įvairiais atstumais bei jų priklausomybė nuo šaldytuvo galingumo. Reikšminiai žodžiai: elektrinio lauko stipris, magnetinio lauko stipris, galingumas, atstumas nuo šaltinio

Effectiveness of air treatment using a plate - type biofilter with a capillary system for humidification of packing material

In this study a new generation of plate-type laboratory air treatment biofilter is applied for the removal of gaseous contaminants from air. The packing material for the biofilter consists of porous plates arranged vertically one after the other to produce a capillary humidification effect. The porous plate is made of polymer to secure the stiffness of the plate. Birch fibre granules thermally treated in a steam explosion reactor are fixed on both sides of the polymer board. The granules are covered with needle-punched nonwovens. This technology enables to improve the durability of the packing material. During the capillary effect of humidification of the packing material, moisture (bio-medium) is spontaneously rising together with the humidification of the wood fibre and needle-punched nonwovens. Therefore, this system of self-humidification does not consume additional energy, the packing material remains well humidified in case of interruption of technological processes or when power supply is discontinued for any other reasons. This paper presents findings of the research into the effectiveness of air treatment and microbiological tests involving air contaminated with gaseous acetone, xylene and ammonia contaminants passing through the packing material. The results of the research show high air purification degrees and microbiological activity. The activity of microorganism in the packing material was 1108 CFU/g on average, while air treatment effectiveness was around 91%. It was established that, with the packing material of the aforementioned composition, microorganisms are able to use such combinations as acetone, xylene and ammonia for their metabolism. Bacteria and micromycetes (fungi) were found to be most dominant in the process of destruction of contaminants. PSEUDOMONAS, ARTHROBACTER, ACINETOBACTER, BACILLUS were the genera most frequently identified during the research tests