Measurement methods and evaluation techniques of indoor CO2 in a cabin for an electric crane

This work deals with the assessment of an experimental setup for the CO2 measurement inside the cabin of an electric crane. Different operating and ventilation conditions are compared and the optimal positioning of the CO2 sensors are discussed. In particular, the results obtained by some sensors placed around the cabin occupant are compared with three sensors positioned in the breathing zone. In all the ventilation modes, a flux of 66 g/h of pure CO2 is introduced inside the cabin, to simulate the breathing of a driver. We studied three different operating conditions: heating mode, ventilation mode and cooling mode. In each condition the CO2 distribution is obtained for the cases of internal ventilation in fresh air mode and on/off control of the recirculation mode. Two different ventilation distributions were considered: one for the heating mode and one for ventilation and cooling modes. A stratification of the CO2 along the vertical axis is shown in both the cases. While in heating mode the CO2 concentration decreased going from the bottom to the top of the cabin, in the other two modes the CO2 level was maximum at medium height and minimum at the extremities. The optimal positioning of the CO2 sensors is obtained for the three operating modes.