Russia’s iconic landmark, The State Hermitage Museum is equipped with Camfil’s clean air technology

The State Hermitage Museum is situated in the heart of St. Petersburg with 4.5 million visitors every year and is exposed to air pollutants coming from traffic fumes, burning coal, and industrial processes. Moreover, Greenpeace has named Moscow and St. Petersburg the most polluted cities in the country with the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which comes principally from vehicle exhaust emissions, airports, and combustion processes. Nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants, typically volatile organic compounds (VOCs) form ozone under the influence of sunlight that can cause irreversible damage and risk of deterioration to the museum objects.

To further the efforts of preserving and protecting these historical treasures the conservation scientists at The Hermitage were looking for an air quality solutions laboratory that could check what molecular pollutants are present in the air of the museum. A team of specialists visited Camfil’s R&D Tech Center and manufacturing unit in Trosa, Sweden with a purpose to understand the advanced clean air technology used by Camfil and plan the strategical measures after analyzing the particulate and molecular containments present at the museum.

Camfil team including Global Molecular Contamination Control Expert, Dr. Chris Ecob discussed the findings of earlier research and reached preliminary conclusions on how to improve the indoor air quality. One of the findings that needed to be corrected was that the Museum previously used low-efficiency solutions and high leakage was evident through the filter media. The team prepared an action plan and a solution was then proposed for The Hermitage museum. Today, the museum is equipped with Camfil’s air filters, air cleaners, corrosion control monitors, and more. Camfil‘s solutions are protecting valuable treasures through the successful removal of airborne contamination and corrosion control along with energy efficiency and a healthier work environment.

“Camfil is very proud to work with The State Hermitage Museum, a cultural heritage icon with a prestigious global reputation. They brought a multidisciplinary team of experts to the Camfil Tech Centre in Sweden. The team was passionate about optimising indoor air quality and protecting the unique collection for future generations. This was a very successful collaboration between conservation scientists, architects, engineers, and air quality experts. Camfil’s high efficiency, energy saving air filters help museums, galleries, libraries, and archives all around the world to protect cultural heritage collections with minimum energy consumption and reduced carbon footprint.” – says Dr. Chris Ecob, Global Molecular Contamination Control Director at Camfil.