The characteristics of particulate matter in different subway station environmental control systems

Xinru Wang; Liang Xia; Fei Pei; Zu Wang; Yiqiao Liu; Li Chang; Song Pan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20116

The characteristics of particulate matter in different subway station environmental control systems

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 13;9(9):e20116. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20116. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Xinru Wang^{1

2}, Liang Xia³, Fei Pei⁴, Zu Wang³, Yiqiao Liu⁴, Li Chang⁴, Song Pan^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ College of mechanical engineering, Tianjin university of commerce, Tianjin 300134, PR China.
² Key Laboratory for Comprehensive Energy Saving of Cold Regions Architecture of Ministry of Education, Jilin jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, PR China.
³ Research Centre for Fluids and Thermal Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 315100, PR China.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁵ Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Built Environment and Energy Efficient Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, PR China.

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) in urban subway stations can significantly impact passengers' health. The particle concentration in subway stations is influenced by many factors. However, few existing studies have explored the impact of environmental control systems in-depth, especially under different outdoor pollution conditions. To address this research gap, this study focused on measuring and comparing the characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10 at subway stations with three control systems (open, closed, and screen door) under varying pollution conditions in Beijing. Particle concentrations from platforms, carriages, and outdoors were monitored and analyzed using statistical methods. The results showed that the particle concentration in the closed system was generally 20-40 μg/m³ higher than that in the screen system at the platform, which might be attributed to the piston wind, as the air from the tunnel with a lot of dirt. The pollution in the carriage was more severe for the open system than that of the screen system. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio in the carriage was 91%, 90%, and 83.84% for the closed, open, and screen systems, respectively. This indicates that the screen door could reduce the particle concentration in the platform to 10%-50%. The particle concentration varied among subway stations with different environmental control systems, suggesting that the prevention and control strategies for particulate matter pollution should be different for stations with different systems.

Keywords: Environmental control system; PM10; PM2.5; Particulate matter; Subway station.