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Salisbury Station is installing new technology that detects air pollution which can then activate filtering equipment.  It looks like a first as far as railways are concerned.....the first of many?

https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/24060964.salisbury-railway-station-first-country-receive-new-technology/

Are there any stand alone recently built battery powered train units,as I can't see overhead wires in that next of the woods for quite some time.

Its a good idea,just thinking do ALL Bristol/Cardiff bound services use platform four?

Its a good idea,just thinking do ALL Bristol/Cardiff bound services use platform four?

I think SOME SWT services heading towards Exeter use platform four.

Salisbury Station is installing new technology that detects air pollution which can then activate filtering equipment.  It looks like a first as far as railways are concerned.....the first of many?

Smaller air filter units do exist, though I doubt that they have ever been seen as required on-train equipment. Ventilation is a more obvious solution, if limited in some stations and with implications for the cost/performance of air cooling. These Pluvo columns don't seem to have any unique technology in them, they have just taken a few pretty standard functions and packaged them for public spaces like stations.

They describe the internal functions as both filtration and scrubbing, and are rather coy about how it works. As it targets both particles (down to very little ones) and gases (NOx) it covers what's in between (viruses) too. The power it uses is 1-2 kW, which does not sound unreasonable for its size and throughput - 1 m³/s.

A closed area like a terminus with a train shed would seem to be its natural habitat; for an open platform with just a canopy a big fan would presumably do as well.

You wonder what consumables/servicing is involved. 1-2 kW if continuous sounds to be a burden. This still sounds to be a way to extract money from gullible organisations. But it's now occurred to me that the primary purpose for this these might actually be to act a substrate for advertising.

Mark

This advertising column is designed to clean polluted city air

The Pluvo Column has the footprint equivalent to half that of a phone booth, but is able to clean one cubic metre of air per second.
By Molly Long May 24, 2021 10:27 am

Cleantech company Pluvo has partnered with ad company Kinetic to roll out its flagship product, the Pluvo Column, across the country.

Its inventors say that the “ground-breaking” Pluvo Column can scrub one cubic metre of air clean every second. Through a combination of filtering techniques, it claims to clean up to 99% of harmful particulate matter from the air, including noxious gases and airborne viruses.

In a similar deal to that of the “Boris Bikes” in London, Kinetic will sell advertising space on the 11-foot high columns which will in turn pay for their installation and upkeep.

“The more enclosed a space is, the greater the impact”

The Pluvo Column has been trialled for the last six months at a site in Finchley, north London. The invention was supported in its development with an Innovate UK Smart Grant.

Pluvo CEO Matteo Maccario says the product has been designed to be “versatile in its application” and will now seek roll out across multiple “pollution hotspot areas”.

Such areas will include airports, rail stations and key roadside locations, he explains. “The most effective places to have these columns are areas where you have high levels of harmful air pollution along with high occupancy or visitation from people, for example transport hubs,” Maccario says. “The more enclosed a space is, the less local air circulation, and the greater the impact.”

Maccario says the column’s “futuristic and engaging” aesthetic, achieved through stainless steel surfaces and illuminated displays, was selected so it fits in well in any location. “It’s not just another box”, he says.
...
WPP advertising company Kinetic has been part of the development process of the Pluvo Column “since the outset”, Maccario says. The partnership will allow the companies Kinetic services to show to their customers that “they care about dealing with pressing environmental issues”, he adds.

Having advertisers effectively sponsor the columns is a convenient way to get around funding for the devices. A similar, but smaller scale project was launched in 2018 between BNP Paribas and JCDecaux in London’s Marylebone Station.

Having completed its first six month trial, the team is now in discussions with potential customers to roll out at a first commercial location.