Air pollution warning device within 2km radius of students

A compact, solar-powered warning device, which costs only 1.5 million VND, has been successfully built by two students in Danang.

Air pollution is one of the serious problems in urban areas, adversely affecting human life. Therefore, it is necessary to have solutions to reduce pollution, improve air quality in particular and the environment in general.

With that goal, two students from the Polytechnic University - Da Nang University Pham Trung Phong and Nguyen Tran Phuoc began to build the model of 'Air quality monitoring system' under the guidance of Dr. Le Quoc Huy - Lecturer of the school.

The device model has a compact size, can be installed in many areas.

'From our recent research, dust exposures with an average annual concentration in excess of 50 µg / m3 in 126 cities around the world could be responsible for about 130,000 premature deaths. Urban gas sources such as industry, transportation, living, construction . can degrade air quality. Therefore, it is necessary to study and evaluate the air quality environment and find solutions to solve this problem, ' said Pham Trung Phong.

Phong and Phuoc's 'Monitoring System' model acts as a system for measuring air quality and on-site warning of various levels of air pollution. The model has a structure including: Sensor modules, indicator lights to display pollution status, alarms of air pollution status.

Air pollution data is updated in real time on the Firebase data page.

The air pollution warning signal will be controlled through the central controller, which is the ARM Cortex-M4F chip, which is also displayed on the model's LCD screen. The parameters that the system needs include: CO2 concentration, CO gas concentration, air quality index (PM 10, 2.5).

The data that the sensor modules are recorded will be sent to Firebase (Google's free Database page). This data source will be used to build websites and air pollution monitoring software in real time. Accordingly, when the air is at a serious pollution level, the warning signal on the website and the tracking software will change the color from green to red. At the same time the alarm on the device will alert users to take preventive and handling measures.

Nguyen Tran Phuoc (left) and Pham Trung Phong introduced the operation of the device ' Air quality monitoring system'.

With the above design and function, if it is put into mass production, the cost of producing equipment of Phong and Phuoc is only about 1.5 million dong. In addition, the device can be operated by solar energy, contributing to energy saving and environmental protection. The device has been tested on the campus of Polytechnic University, can operate continuously for 48 hours and results in testing of air concentration within a radius of 2 km.

To implement this model, Phong and Phuoc have to go through a difficult process of research and research, because they are not professional technical people themselves. In addition, the search for sensors for the device is not easy, as the source of these components is scarce in the domestic market and has a high price compared to the student budget.

'Air quality monitoring system'received the second prize at the 2017 Da Nang Scientific Research Competition.

'The object that the product targets are the industrial parks and households living around it. However, the measuring range is still limited, the system has not yet measured other dangerous gases such as SO ₂ , NOx, lead dust . In the immediate future, the group will try to overcome these disadvantages to make the device more complete. ' , Phuoc said.