Construction and application of an intelligent air quality monitoring system for healthcare environment.
Indoor air quality monitoring in healthcare environment has become a critical part of hospital management and policy. Manual air sampling and analysis are cost-inhibitive and do not provide real-time air quality data and response measures. In this month-long study over 14 sampling locations in a public hospital in Taiwan, we observed a positive correlation between CO(2) concentration and population, total bacteria, and particulate matter concentrations, thus monitoring CO(2) concentration as a general indicator for air quality could be a viable option. Consequently, an intelligent environmental monitoring system consisting of a CO(2)/temperature/humidity sensor, a digital plug, and a ZigBee Router and Coordinator was developed and tested. The system also included a backend server that received and analyzed data, as well as activating ventilation and air purifiers when CO(2) concentration exceeded a pre-set value. Alert messages can also be delivered to offsite users through mobile devices.
Department of Computer Engineering, Tunghai University, 1727 Taiwan Blvd., Sec. 4, Xitun Dist., Taichung City, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Chao-Tung
CT
Yang
Chi-Jui
CJ
Liao
Jung-Chun
JC
Liu
Walter
W
Den
Ying-Chyi
YC
Chou
Jaw-Ji
JJ
Tsai
D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D014691:Ventilation
D052638:Particulate Matter; D002245:Carbon Dioxide