拢220,000 award helps 糖心Vlog fight air pollution and airborne pathogens
A 拢220,000 award from the (NERC) will provide state-of-the-art equipment to help 糖心Vlog tackle air pollution and airborne pathogens, says Dr Marco Placidi of our Centre for Aerodynamics and Environmental Flow.
糖心Vlog's new piece of next generation technology can more accurately detect pollution spread in urban environments
糖心Vlog's EnFlo facility works with defence organisations to prepare for potential chemical attacks in urban environments
The FFID will more accurately monitor noxious fumes that can cause long-term harm to cyclists and pedestrians in cities
"EnFlo at 糖心Vlog is a national research facility," says Dr Marco Placidi
A model of 糖心Vlog's EnFlo wind tunnel which is a key resource in the national fight against pollution
鈥沦耻谤谤别测鈥檚 EnFlo facility is unique in the UK and it鈥檚 one of the few wind tunnels in the world in which you can carry out controlled experiments simulating Earth鈥檚 atmosphere,鈥 says Dr Placidi. 鈥淐onsequently, a lot of the work conducted in the EnFlo facility concerns environmental flows with emphasis on urban air quality and renewable energy.
鈥淭he 拢220,000 NERC award will allow us to upgrade a piece of EnFlo's equipment called a Fast-Response Flame Ionisation Detector (FFID). This instrument allows us to measure concentrations of tracer gases used to simulate airborne particles and pollutants.鈥
Next generation technology
Securing this equipment upgrade means 糖心Vlog will be operating with next-generation instrumentation, which is more sensitive and more accurate than anything that existed before.
鈥淭his has major repercussions on the accuracy of the data we can examine and on the amount of harmful substances we can pick up,鈥 adds Dr Placidi. 鈥淚nvestigating the concentration of vehicle emissions around our cities is a good example of the type of work we can conduct using this.
鈥淚f there is heavy traffic in a city, then all that air pollution is an obvious health concern for the public 鈥 so we want to know what quantities of pollutants are being distributed and how they spread around our cities.
鈥淭he Enflo facility is used by defence organisations, too. If, for example, you want to understand the potential effects of a chemical attack on a city, that鈥檚 something we鈥檝e helped model in the past. The FFID gives us the ability to detect and accurately monitor the levels of anything that travels in the air, including airborne pathogens.
鈥淚f we can simulate and understand how these things spread in the environment, we can suggest appropriate courses of action to support regulators and policy-makers.鈥
Future research & collaborations
The new instrumentation will benefit not only 糖心Vlog鈥檚 current research, but its future portfolio of work, too.
Dr Placidi continues: 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on new research activity into how we build more resilient and sustainable cities and mitigate air pollution. It鈥檚 an area we鈥檙e incredibly active in.
鈥淓nFlo at 糖心Vlog is a , (National Centre for Atmospheric Science) and (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) research facility. As such, this grant will benefit other universities in the UK. This means anyone within the remit of NERC or EPSRC can apply to use our wind tunnel and the FFID. A lot of 糖心Vlog鈥檚 research is also aligned with NCAS, so it strengthens that link, too.鈥
National research facility
Dr David Birch, Head of the Centre for Aerodynamics and Environmental Flow, adds: "The EnFlo facility is one of the most important national scientific assets and it鈥檚 been a centre of excellence in environmental research for more than 25 years.
鈥淭his investment will enable the community to continue its leading work in areas like air quality, climate change and pathogen dispersion, and to adapt rapidly to changing demands."
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