Mobile air cleaners have emerged as a practical solution for reducing indoor aerosol concentrations, particularly in the absence of HVAC systems. Their efficiency is typically assessed under standardised conditions, but how turbulence influences the effective air exchange rate indoors is not well understood. In this study, we present a systematic investigation of the impact of enhanced turbulence on aerosol decay in two room sizes (50 m3 and 200 m3) using a mobile air cleaner combined with different fan configurations. Particle counter measurements were conducted simultaneously with particle image velocimetry (PIV), enabling direct comparison of air exchange rates and flow field properties. Our results show that specific fan arrangements significantly modify turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distributions and, in turn, alter the effective air exchange rate. In the smaller room, configurations generating higher TKE brought the measured exchange rates closer to theoretical predictions, while in large rooms other arrangements led to noticeable deviations. We anticipate that these findings provide a reference framework for understanding the role of turbulence in indoor air cleaning performance, with implications for optimizing the operation and placement of mobile air cleaners in practical environments.
George et al. (Fri,) studied this question.