A novel catalytic/sterilization PV-Trombe wall system: Analysis on PV electrical and air purification performance in winter

Abstract

In the post-COVID-19 era, human beings are paying more attention to the indoor air quality caused by VOCs, bacteria and viruses. The photothermal catalytic and ultraviolet-thermal sterilization technology are two excellent technologies to purify indoor VOCs and bacteria, respectively. Here, a catalytic/sterilization PV-Trombe wall system was proposed combining above two technologies. Then, heat and mass transfer model was established and verified. The comprehensive performance of four cities under different photovoltaic coverage in winter was analyzed. The results were as follows: (1) The PV-Trombe wall had the thermal characteristic of high accumulation on UV dose in morning and afternoon, and high temperature level at noon, which matchs well on the UV and thermal sterilization process. Meanwhile, ultraviolet light in solar radiation could increase the activation energy of the catalyst and promoted the catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde, and also matched the wall. (2) Applied in Nanjing on December 15, with the increase of photovoltaic coverage from 0.1 to 0.9, the electrical efficiency increased from 0.160 to 0.165, the clean air produced by removing formaldehyde and bacteria decreased from 183.44 to 11.29 m3, from 57.27 to 43.3 m3, respectively. (3) All the optimal PV coverage in Xining, Shenyang and Guangzhou in winter was 0.7. The total electricity of typical days in winter was 14.86, 11.78, and 15.36 MJ, respectively. The total amount of clean air produced by formaldehyde degradation was 110.77, 96.03 and 143.97 m3, respectively. The total amount of clean air produced by bacterial inactivation was 207.35, 157.45 and 299.63 m3, respectively.