Ultra-Fine Particle Sensor Suite

Monitoring recycled air in aircraft, businesses and homes is important for short-and long-term health and safety reasons. The team’s ultrafine particle sensor suite monitors the concentration of harmful gases and airborne particulates and displays this information to users, who are notified when levels exceed safety thresholds, indicating that the air is unsafe to breathe. The system draws in air to six commercial sensors that detect volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, fine particulate matter, and ultrafine particles. Through integration of software and electrical design, the sensor data is transmitted wirelessly from the sensors to a graphical user interface, where users can view air quality information and input their own concentration thresholds for each compound or particulate. Tests and analyses were completed at different pressures and temperatures to ensure that the system accounted for the varying conditions found aboard an aircraft. The sensors require regular maintenance, so pullout drawers have been incorporated in the design so that individual sensors can be accessed without disrupting the performance of the entire system.