High concentrations of PM2.5 were generated in new apartments before moving in, and PM2.5 reduction efficiencies using air cleaners and ventilation systems were evaluated. The experimental results for different air cleaner capacities showed that the PM2.5 reduction efficiencies for 46.2 m2, 66 m2, and 105.6 m2 areas were 81.7%, 92.9%, and 92.5%, respectively. Thus, the larger the air cleaning application area, the higher the PM2.5 reduction efficiency. However, there was no difference in the efficiency of overcapacity air cleaners above a certain capacity. The efficiencies of air cleaners located at the living room center, interior wall, and edge were 81.7%, 79.2%, and 75.8%, respectively. There was, therefore, no significant difference in the PM2.5 reduction efficiencies of air cleaners in different locations. Furthermore, the PM2.5 reduction efficiencies at distances of 1 m, 2 m, and 3 m were 81.7%, 81.3%, and 81.7%, respectively. Therefore, there was also no significant difference in efficiency with distance. The PM2.5 concentration decreases rapidly during natural ventilation. Therefore, when the indoor PM2.5 is higher than the outdoor PM2.5, the air cleaner should be used after natural ventilation. The efficiency of PM2.5 reduction using an air supply-type ventilation system in apartments was 35%, which is not high. The simultaneous operation of the ventilation system and kitchen range hood was effective, showing a PM2.5 reduction efficiency of 69.1%. However, a water sprayer was not effective, showing a PM2.5 reduction efficiency of 24.3%. The results of this study suggest that PM2.5 reduction performance should be standardized by evaluating the efficiency of different ventilation systems. Effective usage and maintenance standards for ventilation systems need to be disseminated, and ventilation systems and air cleaners should be used effectively.

We estimated decreasing rate of indoor air pollutants with are airborne bacteria, airborne fungi, formaldehyde, total volatile organic compounds, PM10, and PM2.5 in 10 children’s hospitals and 6 childbirth houses located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do from November to December in 2012. Sectional period was respectively divided for operating and non-operating the air cleaners. There was a trend that concentration of surveyed pollutants in children’s hospitals and childbirth houses during operating period decreased among indoor air. We used Monte-Calro simulation to remove uncertainty and identify efficiency of eliminated pollutants such as surveyed pollutants by the air cleaners. Average efficiency of removal were 61.39 ± 21.42% for airborne bacteria, 71.77 ± 19.65% for airborne fungi, 73.37 ± 24.62% for formaldehyde, 71.20 ± 25.96% for total volatile organic compounds, 65.16 ± 23.80% for PM10, and 71.06 ± 23.97% for PM2.5.

This paper presented experimental results for photocatalytic air cleaner removal performance for malodorous compounds generated from rest room. Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) efficiency was up to 80∼ 90% for NH₃ in chamber, 29.3% for H2S, 79.6% for CH3SH, 58.8% for DMDS individually. PCO efficiency for DMS(Dimethy Sulfide) and DMDS(Dimethyl Disulfide) were relatively lower than that of NH₃ and CH3SH, this results indicate that DMS and DMDS removal process were effected by by-products of photocatalytic oxidation and humidity. Ozone was relatively low (below 5ppb) under the test conditions through photocatalytic oxidation. It is necessary to test a reliability of the air cleaner for a longtime under the various indoor conditions. But, prototype photocatalytic air cleaner will promise useful air cleaner for indoor air quality applications.

Test methods of Korea Air Cleaning Association (KACA) and Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) for particle cleaning capacity performance of an indoor air cleaner were compared in terms of the conditions of the test particle generation, the range of particle measurement and the calculation methods for particle cleaning capacity, and types of the test particles. The performance test was conducted in a 30 m³ chamber with the same test specimen and the test particles of each test were generated until the number concentration of 0.3 ㎛ particles reached 2.2 × 108 #/m³. The performance test results showed that the cleaning capacity with the particles of higher surface area and volume density, regardless of the type of test particles, was higher than with those of lower and the capacity from calculation with 0.3～1 ㎛ particles was higher than with 0.3 ㎛ particles. Moreover, the cleaning capacity with the calculation of KACA method was lower than with that of AHAM method in spite of using the same test specimen.

A high efficiency roll-type electret polypropylene (PP) filter with an external electric field was developed and its particle collection efficiency and air cleaning capacity was investigated in a room when applied to an air cleaner having a fan. To enhance air cleaning performance of the cleaner, a wire-plate type ionizer was installed in front of the filter to enhance electric field to filter and one side of the filter was embossed by press of a pattern with a lot of circular projection. Performance test results showed that the newly developed electret PP filter with an ionizer becomes an appropriate filter to be applied to indoor air cleaner due to its low pressure drop and high air cleaning performance.