Air Liquide is testing an innovative solution to improve air quality in an SNCF railroad station in Paris

As part of the ‘Innovating for the air in our stations’ call for projects issued by the Paris Region, Air Liquide is testing an innovative air purification solution at the Avenue Foch station on the RER C regional express line in Paris. All six of the platform air purification units are running since Tuesday, May 28. The experiment will run until the end of August.

At the Avenue Foch station in Paris, Air Liquide is testing a pilot project based on positive ionization technology in collaboration with SMEs and startups. This air purification technique consists of electrically charging fine particulates suspended in the air so that they can be captured in the form of easily recoverable accumulations. For three months, the six purifiers installed will filter 50,000 m3 of air per hour to reduce the concentration of PM2.5 and PM10* fine particulates. The solution is easy to install and energy efficient.

To accurately assess the impact of the pilot project, station air quality data will be gathered and analyzed using sensors installed alongside platforms by Air Liquide and SNCF for the period of the experiment. These data will be supplemented by data from an air quality measurement station (TEOM), which has been installed at the Avenue Foch station by Airparif in April last year. Airparif, Air Liquide and SNCF will share data from their respective sensors to improve air quality monitoring throughout the station.

Air quality is a major issue in the world’s largest cities: many people are now being exposed to levels of pollution that exceed World Health Organization recommendations. To face this challenge, Air Liquide is developing and experimenting, through open innovation projects, with the aim to purify the air in polluted urban spaces such as parking lots and train stations.

* PM2.5 and PM10 fine particulates are those with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns and 10 microns respectively. Air pollutants have a direct effect on human health and the environment.