Holistic assessment of advanced technology for ultrafine particle filtration in car cabins

Requirements on cabin air quality are constantly increasing. The objective is to protect the passengers from ultrafine particles and harmful gases, particularly in small volumes such as car cabins, where pollution is more concentrated in absence of any filtration strategy. It is necessary to extend the single filter approach and combine it with advanced filtration technologies (high separation efficiency), and thus create an effective multistage filtration system. The investigation work is built around a holistic approach. A complete 1D-simulation model has been calibrated with experimental results from a dedicated test rig and an electric vehicle. The results showed a significant improvement of particle level in the cabin with the advanced filtration system. Additionally, an appropriate ventilation strategy has been implemented to deal with the air entering the cabin by other means than the blower operation. This “infiltration”, triggered by vehicle speed, allows pollution to enter the cabin without any filtration stage.