Smart air cleaning system and method thereof

An air cleaning system for use in a substantially enclosed environmental space for reducing air contaminants within the space, such contaminants including particulate and gaseous contaminants, the system comprising:

• a blower forming an air stream through the system;
• a filter for removing said particulate contaminants from said air stream;
• a heater for raising the temperature of said air stream;
• a catalyst device for oxidizing said gaseous contaminants in said heated air stream;
• a heat exchanger for recovering heat energy from said heated air stream output from said catalyst device;
• at least one temperature sensor for determining the temperature of said air stream;
• at least one flow rate sensor for determining the flow rate of said air stream;
• and
• a controller unit receiving a first output of said at least one temperature sensor and controlling said heater in accordance with said first output, and receiving a second output of said at least one flow sensor and controlling said blower in accordance with said second output.

An apparatus for reducing particulate and gaseous contaminants in a substantially enclosed environment, the apparatus comprising:

• a blower creating a stream of air through said apparatus;
• a particulate filter for removing said particulate contaminants in said stream;
• a pair of pressure sensors, one said pressure sensor located adjacent said filter upstream and one said pressure sensor located adjacent said filter downstream for measuring the pressure differential through said filter;
• a series of sensors for measuring temperature, composition and flow rate of said stream downstream of said filter;
• a heat exchanger located downstream of said series of sensors;
• a heater located downstream of said heat exchanger for selectively heating said stream of air;
• at least one catalyst device for oxidizing at least one said gaseous contaminants in said air stream, said heater raising the temperature of said stream to cause an oxidizing reaction in said catalyst device;
• an adsorbent device located downstream of said at least one catalyst device for removing by-products of said reaction from said stream;
• the stream emanating from said adsorbent device being returned to said heat exchanger to transfer heat energy from said emanating stream to said stream of air upstream of said heater;
• and
• a controller receiving signals from said series of sensors and responsively controlling said blower and said heater to achieve a desired reduction of said contaminants within said enclosed environment.

A method for reducing air contaminants in a substantially enclosed environmental space, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an air stream;
• b) passing said air stream through a heater and measuring the temperature of the air stream emanating from said heater;
• c) oxidizing gaseous contaminants in said air stream by reacting such contaminants in a catalyst;
• d) recovering heat energy from said air stream by passing said air stream through a heat exchanger;
• and
• e) controlling the flow rate of said air stream and the temperature of said heater to improve the air quality of said environmental space according to a selected program.