Bangkok buses to test air purifiers
The Transport Ministry will install air purifiers on the roofs of Bangkok buses this month, starting with 387 Bangkok Mass Transit Authority vehicles and fitting trucks as well if the results are good.
Minister Saksayam Chidchob said plans were being finalised with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, the National Science and Technology Development Agency and Chiang Mai University (CMU) to outfit the 387 buses on 129 routes.
Unlike home units, the air purifiers will require no electrical power, simply gulping in air as the vehicles move.
A CMU simulation found that a unit mounted on a car moving at 20 kilometres per hour could purify 20,000 cubic metres of air per hour.
The average adult breathes 0.5 cubic metre of air per hour, so theoretically, a bus with a purifier could supply fresh air to 40,000 people in one hour.
The Department of Land Transport has yet to determine whether a bus even moving faster than 20kph would produce enough purified air just by its movement.
The units are expected to be inexpensive. The changeable filter costs around Bt500 and is good for 400 hours – 2-3 weeks.
Saksayam said the ministry might also design a purifier for small vehicles including motorcycles but would not make their installation obligatory.
“There are millions of cars on the road, so this might help clean the air,” he said.