Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia has been rated by Time and other organizations as the most highly polluted capital in the entire world. Because the city experiences such frigid temperatures, residents living in poorly-insulated gers use coal-burning stoves almost constantly, which causes such bad pollution. To help alleviate these conditions, BYU Engineering Capstone students designed a system to better insulate gers, allowing occupants to use electricity to heat and cook. These changes significantly decrease the amount of pollution being produced by coal burning stoves.
In order to test if the insulation systems are producing the desired results of better air quality in the ger, air quality sensors need to be installed. Due to some unforeseen problems, the air quality sensors installed at the time of production of the gers were unable to collect results.
Doctor Phil Lundrigan, a Computer Engineering professor, has been studying air quality sensors for years. Elder Joe Kwan, the full-time missionary leading the modified ger project in Mongolia, asked Dr. Lundrigan and his team of students– Sam (Batsaikhan) Ariun-Erdene, Joseph Meira, and Lehi Alcantara– to work through those difficulties and create a sensor that will provide them the needed data.
As a result of that request, in early October, Dr. Lundrigan and his team flew to Mongolia to deploy the sensors they created. They deployed 50 sensors— 10 in ‘unmodified gers,’ 30 inside the BYU Capstone-installed gers, and 10 outside the gers, each in spatially-diverse areas. The sensors inside measure how much pollution is being trapped inside the ger while the ones outside primarily measure the air quality surrounding the ger.
Dr. Lundrigan and his team designed the sensors with cellular connections, so they are able to collect air quality data and send it directly to a device in Provo, similar to how a cell phone would send a text message. In preparing to build the sensors, the group considered using other platforms, like LoRa (a long-range wireless protocol), but ultimately went with cellular, due to its reliability, relative simplicity, and the technologically challenging setting in Mongolia. Since the team began the project in April and the sensors needed to be installed before winter set, they were on a time crunch, so Dr. Lundrigan felt that going with cellular was the best option for their needs.
Deploying the sensors required a few preparations. Before they would install anything, the team would interview the residents of each ger to gather some critical information that would help them interpret the data they will receive. Sam Ariun-Erdene, a junior in the Computer Engineering program, is originally from Mongolia and acted as the interviewer.
Dr. Lundrigan said, “It was nice to have Sam there. When we would walk into the ger, Sam would go talk to them, ask them where the power plug is for us to plug the sensor in and make sure it’s okay if we install it. He would explain what we were doing. He would then sit down and ask them questions, like who is at home during the day, how many children they have, etc., just to help us understand when we actually get the data to see those factors, like smoking in the house, what kind of heater they have, what their energy bill is, and more.”
Once the team collected the information they needed, they would install the sensor using zipties for flexibility and ease of removal. They installed around 20 per day.
With the installations complete and the most labor-intensive part of the project over, the group still has work ahead of them to collect the results.
Dr. Lundrigan explained, “Deploying is only half the battle. Maintaining is the rest. When sensors go down, how do you deal with that? That actually can be quite a bit of work. That’s something my research has been around—how to make that easier.”
According to Lundrigan, the first step of the process is to ensure that they are collecting data, then, second, that the data is correct. For example, if a cell tower temporarily loses power, a sensor gets unplugged, or a blanket covers a sensor, the data will either not be collected or will collect incorrect data. Lundrigan and his team have to figure out how to solve the problem remotely from BYU or have a representative in Mongolia go out to the spot to fix it.
Through all of these barriers, Lundrigan and his team are working to collect and analyze the data they started collecting from the sensors.
“We are collecting data right now and we’re going to analyze it. Throughout this, we will be writing reports and giving it to Deseret International Charities,” Lundrigan said. “We are most interested in seeing how good the air quality is in the modified gers compared to the unmodified gers. That’s the most important part. We hope to see a big improvement there.”
Big improvements would be welcomed in a place with such poor air quality. Air quality is measured in micrograms per meter cubed, which is simply a measure of how many particles are in the air.
As a reference, Dr. Lundrigan said, “Here in Utah, when they say it’s a ‘red day’ for air quality, that’s around 150-200 micrograms per meter cubed. Air quality in Mongolia is easily over 400 micrograms per meter cubed. We’re all hoping that the air quality inside the modified ger will be really good. I don’t know what—it’ll all depend—but not 400. I think in the order of 100, which is still not great, but it’s significantly better than the 400.”
According to the World Health Organization, one in nine deaths in Ulaanbaatar is caused by pollution-related disease, which is especially harmful to elderly people and children.
Because of that saddening statistic, Dr. Lundrigan is hopeful that these gers will prove to help reduce pollution.
“It’s really cool to see these things affect people. I feel like with computer engineering, you don’t usually see the effects of what you do. This is directly helping health and people, so that’s really cool to actually go to Mongolia and be part of that,” Dr. Lundrigan said. “We’re just doing the measurements; we’re not actually building the gers that are making it better, but we’re helping to build a case.”
The hope is that as companies and organizations see the improvement of air quality in the area, they will be willing to reach out and help fund the building of more gers, leading to better quality of life for the residents in Ulaanbaatar.
1. Hincks, Joseph. “Life in Ulan Bator, the World's Most Polluted Capital.” Time, Time, 23 Mar. 2018, https://time.com/longform/ulan-bator-mongolia-most-polluted-capital/.
2. “WPRO | World Health Organization Issues Recommendations to Tackle Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Mongolia.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 28 Feb. 2018, http://www.wpro.who.int/mongolia/mediacentre/releases/20180228_recommen….