The air quality sensors used in the APB’s ports are declared the most precise on the market
The APB’s monitoring system and smart environmental platform provide real-time data on air pollution
Palma
22/01/2024
The equipment used to measure air quality at the five major ports managed by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) was declared the most precise on the market in the 2023 AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge. This aim of this event, which is organised by Airparif, is to evaluate and compare the performance of different multi-pollutant sensors under actual conditions of use.
In this fourth edition of the Challenge, the equipment manufactured by Kunak, which is installed in the ports of Palma, Alcúdia, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina, stood out in particular for its capacity to precisely measure two of the pollutants that play a key role in air quality: ozone (O3) and fine particulates (PM₂).
The APB has installed a total of 25 measuring stations at the five major ports it manages. With the aim of improving air quality, the monitoring system and smart environmental platform provide data on air pollution in real time.
In line with the principle that “what cannot be measured, cannot be managed”, since 2016 the APB has been working to improve a digital platform that now has the capacity to provide real-time air quality data, as well as alerts to identify pollution hotspots at the five major ports it manages. The platform also makes it possible to calculate the back trajectories of any pollutants identified by the sensors.
Other accolades
The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) cited the air quality monitoring and improvement project at the APB’s ports as a successful case study at the 13th edition of Med Days, an international conference that took place in October 2023.
The same project also won the international award for the best air quality monitoring network at the 2022 edition of the Air Quality and Emissions Show (AQE), which took place in Telford in the United Kingdom. The AQE is one of the world’s leading trade fairs in the field of air quality and industrial emissions.
