Modeling And Estimation Of The Humans' Effect On The Co2 Dynamics Inside A Conference Room

We develop a data-driven, Partial Differential Equation-Ordinary Differential Equation (PDE-ODE) model that describes the response of the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) dynamics inside a conference room, due to the presence of humans, or of a user-controlled exogenous source of CO2. We conduct two controlled experiments in order to develop and tune a model whose output matches the measured output concentration of CO2 inside the room, when known inputs are applied to the model. In the first experiment, a controlled amount of CO2 gas is released inside the room from a regulated supply, and in the second, a known number of humans produce a certain amount of CO2 inside the room. For the estimation of the exogenous inputs, we design an observer, based on our model, using measurements of CO2 concentrations at two locations inside the room. We perform several simulation studies for the illustration of our design.