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Indoor Air Quality Monitoring with Environmental Sensors

Indoor Air Quality Monitoring with Environmental Sensors

September 06 , 2023 0

During the past decade, sensor technology has advanced tremendously, enabling a multitude of new applications and use cases as a result. For example, environmental sensing and air quality monitoring have become increasingly important, with an emphasis on indoor air quality, over the past decade. In particular since the COVID-19 pandemic of the past year, people have become more aware of the quality of their indoor air and have become much more concerned with it.

In order to monitor the indoor air quality, several factors need to be taken into account, including the level of carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter (PM), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Even with the advancement of sensing technology, monitoring the quality of indoor air can still be challenging, since there are many variables to keep track of. From the perspective of hardware system-design, where designers have to negotiate a balance between performance, accuracy, and power consumption, this is particularly true.

We will discuss several sensors that are used in indoor air-quality monitoring systems, the challenges in the design of such systems, and a few solutions to these challenges in this post.

Sensors Used to Monitor Indoor Air Quality

The most important component of monitoring indoor air quality is to consider the three main contaminants: CO2, PM, and VOCs. In general, measuring each of these contaminants separately requires the use of certain sensors.

As part of the CO2 sensing process, a variety of sensors are available, including non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors, electrochemical sensors, and metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sensors. The T6793 CO2 sensor from Amphenol Advanced Sensors is an excellent example of an NDIR CO2 sensor designed to measure indoor air quality to the highest degree possible. Among the features of the sensor, one of the most notable is that it is accurate to 45ppm + 3 percent of readings in a range of 440ppm to 2,000ppm.

While PM can be considered one of the most complicated types of air pollution because it comes from so many different sources and takes so many different forms. The general definition of PM is that it is divided into three types: coarse particles (PM10), fine particles (PM2.5), and ultrafine particles (PM0.1 - particles measuring more than 0.1 meters in diameter). Consequently, PM sensors use a variety of different detection techniques, including optical particle counting and volume scattering, as a result of this variety of detection methods.

Additionally, VOCs include a wide range of contaminants, which is why multiple types of sensors must be used to detect them. The three most popular types of VOC sensors are photoionization detectors, flame ionization detectors, and MOS sensors. Typically, these sensors are calibrated with isobutylene gas, but depending on what VOC is being measured, they can have a wide range of reactions and output readings.

Aside from these three major contaminants, other factors such as temperature and humidity are also important to monitor since they are key factors that drive the development of toxins in the environment.

Environmental Sensing Challenges and Tradeoffs

One of the most challenging aspects of designing an indoor air quality monitor is determining which sensors are suitable for the right application and the right environment, given the variety of sensing options that are available. In general, a designer's choice of sensor is influenced by two primary considerations: power and performance.

In most indoor air-quality monitoring systems, a dedicated sensor is used to monitor air quality, as well as a radio system that transmits data from the sensor wirelessly to a central online hub where the data can be analyzed. It is typical for these systems to be powered by a battery in order to provide maximum flexibility and value. Since battery life is so important in indoor air-quality monitoring systems, power consumption and performance are the main design tradeoffs.

Generally speaking, environmental sensors will offer higher performance at the expense of higher power consumption. For example, using a higher sampling rate will help the sensor acquire detailed data but will significantly increase the power consumption of a device. Therefore, this causes a faster discharge rate of the battery, which leads to a decrease in battery life and a reduction in device maintenance.

In contrast, considering power consumption to be as low as possible can often come at the expense of sensor performance or radio communication reliability when designing an indoor air-quality monitoring system. If an indoor air-quality monitoring system is underpowered, the sensor's accuracy will suffer significantly.

Consequently, an ideal design for an indoor air quality monitoring system should find the right balance between performance and power consumption in order to ensure that the system provides accurate, valuable, and useful data while maintaining an acceptable battery life. In many cases, it is possible to accomplish this by choosing low-power components carefully, using device sleep modes intelligently, and choosing the right wireless communication protocols, based on the application and location of deployment.

Conclusion

If we want to live in an environment where the air we breathe is healthy and contaminant free, it is essential that we are able to monitor our indoor air quality accurately if we wish to maintain an environment in which the air we breathe is healthy. For us to really gain valuable insights into our air quality, we need high-quality, accurate data. With the use of sensors, as described in this piece, and with the right design to balance performance and energy consumption, we can build a future in which occupants are able to enjoy a healthier working and living environment.

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