Combining active chilled beams and air cleaning technologies to improve indoor climate in offices: Testing a low pressure mechanical filter in a laboratory environment

This project is part of a long-term research programme studying the possibilities of using efficient air cleaning technologies to improve the indoor air quality in buildings. The purpose of this part of the project is to study energy-saving potential by combining cooling and cleaning of air in offices. For this purpose, a mechanical filter with low pressure drop was selected to be tested in a laboratory environment. The measurements included tests of the filter in a ductwork to study the efficiency of the filter. Moreover, the combined system of the filter and a chilled beam was tested in a room. The removal efficiency of the mechanical filter for ultrafine particles was examined using burning candles as sources for emission of particles. The measurements in the duct showed that the efficiency of the filter ranged between 54% and 78% and the pressure loss was less than 5 Pascal. Furthermore, the measurement results of the combined system showed that adding the filter accelerated the removal rate of the particles by 2 (h-1). However, the efficiency of the chilled beam in exchanging the heat reduced by 38%.