Image: Award-winning DIY air filter created by MME students.
A team of current and former PSU engineering students was one of just five teams to win the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge.
Smoke from wildfires contains hazardous gasses and particulate matter and poses health risks, particularly for those with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Those risks increase during prolonged exposures at high concentrations, like those that occurred in Portland during the wildfires of 2020.
The EPA's Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge, which came with prizes of up to $10,000, asked participants to propose innovative solutions to removing particulate matter from indoor air in homes during wildfire smoke events. The winning PSU team included senior mechanical and materials engineering (MME) students, Warren Gunn and Brett Stinson, MME alum Matthew Moore, and Associate Professor Elliott Gall, who serves as the team's advisor.
The team's award-winning "do-it-yourself" (DIY) design created a highly-effective indoor air cleaner using materials most of us have around the house or materials one can purchase for under $45: a box fan and cotton fabric. Called "The Cocoon," the design uses a fabric filter resembling a large sock affixed to a box fan.
The team used techniques and methodologies adapted from a course Gall teaches in indoor air quality to field test the design. The tests showed that their air cleaner could remove more than 80% of indoor air particulate matter in a bedroom-sized space in 30 minutes, exceeding the removal rate established by the competition.
The idea for the air cleaner came to Gall during the wildfire events of September 2020 when smoke from fires in the Cascades blanketed the Willamette Valley, resulting in hazardous air quality in Portland and elsewhere throughout the region. According to Gall, the demand for commercial air cleaners and other DIY solutions outstripped the supply during the smoke event. Recalling how people made masks early in the pandemic, Gall thought, why couldn't we do the same with an indoor air cleaner?
"The design was intentionally simple," said Gunn. "We wanted it to be low-cost, simple to make and use, and accessible to everyone."
After developing and testing their design, the team had the opportunity to present their work at an event hosted by the EPA. The team will now advance to the second phase of the challenge, where they will submit a prototype to the EPA for additional testing. Additionally, the team plans to make their design and data available to the public via the internet.
"It was exciting having real-world experiences related to what you've studied in class," said Matthew Moore, a recent PSU graduate. "It was a great opportunity for all of us."
The team plans to test additional fabric filter materials in Gall's Healthy Buildings Research Laboratory in the coming months. The lab will soon install a new testing facility funded through an EPA grant of which Gall is the principal investigator. The facility will provide additional testing resources for the team and external organizations seeking partnerships to evaluate technologies designed to improve indoor air quality.