Air Pollution: Indoor Air

Quality and Air Pollution

Control
Indoor Air Quality
Sources and Types of Indoor Air
Pollutants
• Combustion processes (furnaces, stoves,
water heaters) – CO, NOx, HC, PM, SO2
• Tobacco smoke – CO, benzene, aldehydes,
PM, 4000+ organic compounds
• New building materials – VOCs, PM,
• Old building materials – Pb, asbestos
• Equipment – VOCs, PM, CO, O3
• Drains – HsS
• Soil and rock -- radon
 Movement of Air Into / Out
of Buildings
• Amount of air available to dilute pollutants
– important indicator of the likely
contaminant concentration
• Indoor air can mix with outside air by three
mechanisms
– infiltration
– natural ventilation
– forced ventilation
 Infiltration
• natural air exchange that occurs between a building
and its environment due to leakage
 Ventilation
• Natural ventilation
– air exchange that occurs when windows or doors
are opened to increase air circulation
• Forced ventilation
– mechanical air handling systems used to induce
air exchange using fans and blowers
• Trade-offs
– cut infiltration to decrease heating and cooling
costs vs. indoor air quality problems
• Air/air heat exchangers allow heat recovery with ventilation
 Indoor Air Quality Model
• Box model

Indoor Concentration, C
Infiltration, Q Volume, V Ex-filtration, Q
Concentration, Ca Emission Decay (k) Concentration, C
(E)

Source Sink
 Indoor Air Quality Model
• Assumptions
– Volume of conditioned space in building
is constant
– Box is completely mixed so that
concentration is uniform
– Decay of pollutant occurs by first order
degradation dC/dt = -kC
– Emission rate is constant (g/s)
– Infiltration rate = ex-filtration rate
 Indoor Air Quality Model
• Mass Balance

Mass Rate Mass Rate Mass Rate Mass Rate

of increase of pollutant of pollutant of decay
or decrease entering leaving

dC
V  QCa  E - QC - kCV
dt

V= volume (m3) C = concentration of pollutant (g/m3)

Q= infiltration flow (m3/s) Ca= concentration of outdoor air (g/m3)
k = decay coeff. (s-1) E = emission rate (g/s)
 Indoor Air Quality Model
• General solution

C(t) 
E V   Ca Q V    Q    Q 
1  exp   k t    C0 exp   k t 
Q V   k   V    V 
• Steady state solution • Conservative Pollutant
QCa  E E Q 
C  Ct  1  exp t 
Q  kV Q V  
 Radon
• 55% of our exposure to radiation comes
from radon
• colorless, tasteless, odorless gas
• formed from the decay of uranium
• found in nearly all soils
• levels vary
 Radon
• Can cause lung cancer
• Estimated that 7,000 to 30,000 Americans
die each year from radon-induced lung
cancer
• Only smoking causes more lung cancer
deaths
• Smokers more at risk than non-smokers
 Radon: How it Enters
Buildings
• Cracks in solid floors
• Construction joints
• Cracks in walls
• Gaps in suspended
floors
• Gaps around service
pipes
• Cavities inside walls
• The water supply
(From: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/
pubs/citguide.html#howdoes)
Radon Risk Assessment
Radon Risk Management
• Relatively simple
techniques
• Seal entry points
– utility holes
– sumps
– crawl spaces
• subslab suction
– e.g. in drain tile
Air Pollution Control
Absorption
Adsorption
Combustion
Cyclone
Filtration
Electrostatic Precipitator
Liquid Scrubber
 Sulfur Dioxide Control

http://www.apt.lanl.gov/projects/cctc/factsheets/puair/adflugasdemo.html