Air purifier and air purification method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10948207-B2
Application number	US-201716085005-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2017
Priority date	Mar 16, 2016
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

An air purifier comprise a gas filter between an upstream air flow and a downstream air flow and a concentration sensor comprising a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being exposed to the upstream air flow and the second electrode exposed to the downstream air flow, the concentration sensor providing an output signal based on the difference in concentrations of a target gas at the first and second electrodes. The output signal is processed to determine information relating to the condition of the gas filter.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An air purifier, comprising:
a gas filter located between an upstream air flow and a downstream air flow;
a feed branch forming a first side channel from an inlet side of the main flow channel, the feed branch leading to a first side of the concentration sensor;
a return branch forming a second side channel from an outlet side of the main flow channel leading to a second side of the concentration sensor;
the first side channel and the second side channel being separated by the concentration sensor;
the concentration sensor comprising a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being exposed to the upstream air flow in the first side channel and the second electrode exposed to the downstream air flow in the second side channel,
wherein the concentration sensor further comprises an electrolyte surrounded by the first and second electrodes to form an oxygen gas concentration cell, and wherein the concentration sensor is configured for providing an output signal based on the difference in concentrations of a target gas at the first and second electrodes; and
a processor configured for processing the output signal to determine information relating to the condition of the gas filter.

2. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a calibration module configured for calibrating the concentration sensor based on an initial target gas concentration level.

3. The air purifier as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the calibration module comprises:
a reference electrode exposed to a confined calibration gas volume, wherein the reference electrode is arranged on a downstream side of the concentration sensor to enable a determination of a concentration difference between the upstream air flow and the calibration gas.

4. An air purifier as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the calibration module comprises an additional sensor exposed to the upstream air flow.

5. An air purifier as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the calibration module comprises a user interface for receiving the initial target gas concentration level from a user.

6. An air purifier as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the calibration module comprises a communications module for receiving the initial target gas concentration level from an external data source.

7. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a calibration module.

8. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information comprises advice that the gas filter has reached its end of life or the remaining usage time of the gas filter.

9. The air purifier as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the processor is adapted to determine that the gas filter has reached its end of life if an output signal relating to the concentration difference between the upstream side and the downstream side is below a threshold.

10. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information comprises the one-pass efficiency of the gas filter wherein the one-pass efficiency of the gas filter represents the percentage of pollutants the filter can remove based on one pass through the filter, derived from a ratio of the difference signal between the first electrode and the second electrode to the difference signal between the first electrode and a reference electrode.

11. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a solid electrolyte which comprises zirconia, and the electrodes are platinum optionally with a gold coating.

12. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the gas filter comprises activated carbon or other sorption materials.

13. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the upstream air flow is coupled to a first side channel which communicates with the first electrode, and the downstream air flow is coupled to a second side channel which communicates with the second electrode.

14. The air purifier according to claim 1 , wherein the upstream air flow is the air flow directed towards the gas filter for filtering, and wherein the downstream air flow is the air flow filtered by the gas filter and directed away from the gas filter.

15. The air purifier as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the calibration module comprises a reference electrode exposed to a confined gas volume, and wherein the electrolyte of the reference electrode is located between the first and reference electrodes.

16. A method for determining information relating to the condition of a gas filter, comprising:
performing gas filtering between an upstream air flow and a downstream air flow in a main channel using a gas filter;
sensing a concentration difference of a target between the upstream side and the downstream side using a concentration sensor located in a side channel, the concentration sensor comprising a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being exposed to the upstream air flow and the second electrode exposed to the downstream air flow, and wherein the concentration sensor comprises an electrolyte located between the first and second electrodes; and
processing the concentration difference to determine information relating to the condition of the gas filter.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the information comprises advice that the gas filter has reached its end of life, and/or the remaining usage time of the gas filter, and/or the one-pass efficiency of the gas filter and/or the clean air delivery rate of the air purifier.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16 , comprising determining that the gas filter has reached its end of life if an output signal relating to the concentration difference between the upstream side and the downstream side is below a threshold.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16 , comprising performing a calibration using a calibration module configured for calibrating the concentration sensor based on an initial target gas concentration level, which calibration module comprises an additional sensor exposed to the upstream air flow, or a reference electrode of the concentration sensor exposed to a confined gas volume, or a user interface for receiving the initial target gas concentration level from a user, or a communication module configured for receiving the initial target gas concentration level from an external data source.

20. An air purifier, comprising:
a gas filter located between an upstream air flow and a downstream air flow in a main flow channel;
a concentration sensor comprising a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being exposed to the upstream air flow and the second electrode exposed to the downstream air flow,
wherein the concentration sensor is arranged in a side channel coupled to the main channel at an inlet side and at an outlet side,
wherein the concentration sensor comprises a solid electrolyte located between the first and second electrodes, and wherein the concentration sensor is configured for providing an output signal based on the difference in concentrations of a target gas at the first and second electrodes; and
a processor configured for processing the output signal to determine information relating to the condition of the gas filter.

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Xue Ruifeng
• Ke Rui
• Zhu Shan
• Chen Shuang

Classifications

• F24F11/39 Primary

  Monitoring filter performance · CPC title

• F24F11/32 Primary

  Responding to malfunctions or emergencies · CPC title

• F24F2110/64

  Airborne particle content · CPC title

• Y02A50/20

  Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters · CPC title

• F24F2110/50

  Air quality properties · CPC title