Technical analysis and development trend of air purifier testing cabin

In today's increasingly concerned air pollution, air purifiers have become important equipment for many households and public places to ensure indoor air quality. However, how do consumers judge the true purification effect of the dazzling array of products on the market? How do manufacturers validate product performance and iteratively upgrade? All of this cannot be separated from a key 'behind the scenes hero'——Air purifier testing chamberIt is the "gold standard" laboratory for evaluating the performance of air purifiers, providing an objective, fair, and reproducible testing environment for the industry.

1、 What is an air purifier test chamber?

Air Purifier Test Chamber, also known as Air Purifier Performance Test Chamber or Clean Room Test Chamber, is a closed experimental space specifically designed to simulate and control specific environmental conditions to scientifically and accurately evaluate various performance indicators of air purifiers. Its core function is to provide a stable, controllable, and repeatable testing environment, eliminate external interference, and ensure the comparability of test results.

2、 The core composition and working principle of the test cabin

A standard testing chamber is not a simple enclosed room, but a complex equipment composed of multiple precision systems working together, mainly including:

Sealed cabin: usually made of stainless steel or special coating materials, ensuring high airtightness of the cabin and preventing external air infiltration or internal pollutant leakage. The interior of the cabin is smooth and easy to clean, avoiding the adhesion of pollutants that may affect the test results.

Environmental control system:

Temperature and humidity control: Through a precise constant temperature and humidity system, the temperature and humidity inside the cabin are stabilized at set values (such as 25 ℃± 1 ℃, 50% RH ± 5%), as temperature and humidity significantly affect the diffusion of pollutants and the efficiency of the purifier.

Air circulation system: Equipped with a built-in fan or blower to ensure sufficient and uniform mixing of air inside the cabin, resulting in consistent distribution of pollutant concentrations and avoiding concentration gradients, ensuring the accuracy of testing.

Pollutant generation and control system:

Pollutant generator: used to precisely inject specific types of pollutants into the cabin. Common ones include:

Aerosol generator: produces solid or liquid particulate matter (such as cigarette smoke, salt spray, stone powder, DEHS oil mist, etc.), used to test the purification ability of particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10.

Gas generator: produces gaseous pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, TVOC (total volatile organic compounds), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, etc., used to evaluate the removal effect of purifiers on harmful gases.

Concentration monitoring system: equipped with high-precision sensors or analytical instruments (such as laser particle counters, gas chromatographs, infrared spectrometers, etc.), to monitor the concentration changes of various pollutants in the cabin in real time and continuously.

Data Collection and Analysis System: The integrated computer system automatically collects all data such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, pollutant concentration, etc., and calculates and analyzes them according to preset testing programs (such as CADR testing, CCM testing, energy efficiency testing, etc.), ultimately generating detailed test reports.

3、 Core testing items of the testing cabin

The test chamber is the core tool for implementing various performance standards for air purifiers, mainly conducting the following key tests:

Clean air volume: a core indicator for measuring the purification efficiency of an air purifier. During testing, first release a certain concentration of pollutants evenly inside the cabin (such as CADR for particulate matter in cigarette smoke and CADR for gaseous formaldehyde gas), then start the tested purifier and record the time required for the pollutant concentration to decrease from the initial value to a certain proportion (such as 50%). The higher the CADR value, the greater the amount of clean air output by the purifier per unit time, and the faster the purification speed.

Accumulated purification capacity: an indicator that measures the service life of the core components of a purifier, mainly the filter screen. By repeatedly injecting pollutants into the cabin until the CADR value of the purifier decays to below 50% of the initial value, the total amount of pollutants injected is the CCM value. The higher the CCM value, the longer the lifespan of the filter and the lower the cost of later use.

Energy efficiency testing: Measure the power consumption of the purifier during operation, calculate the energy efficiency ratio based on its CADR value, and evaluate its energy-saving level.

Noise testing: During the testing process, a sound level meter is used to measure the noise level generated by the purifier when operating at different wind speeds.

Sterilization/Virus Removal Test: Some advanced testing chambers can conduct microbial challenge tests to evaluate the purifier's ability to remove or inactivate bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms.

4、 The Importance and Application of Test Cabin

The cornerstone of industry standards: mandatory or recommended standards for air purifiers at home and abroad, which clearly stipulate the methods of using test chambers for performance testing. Without standardized test chambers, it is impossible to conduct performance verification that meets specifications.

Product quality control: Manufacturers use testing chambers to conduct strict quality inspections during product development, production processes, and before leaving the factory, ensuring that each product meets the claimed performance indicators.

Research and Technology Development: Universities and research institutions use test chambers to study the efficiency of new purification technologies (such as catalysis, plasma, photocatalysts, etc.), explore the diffusion laws of pollutants indoors, and promote the progress of air purification technology.

5、 Future Development Trends

With the advancement of technology and the upgrading of demand, the air purifier testing chamber is also constantly developing:

Intelligence and Automation: Achieving fully automated control and data processing of the testing process, improving efficiency and accuracy.

Multi functional integration: capable of testing multiple pollutants simultaneously and simulating more complex indoor environments (such as different lighting and ventilation conditions).

Miniaturization and Portability: Developing miniaturized testing chambers to meet the rapid testing needs of laboratories and enterprise R&D departments.