Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development of a procedure for estimating the parameters of mechanistic VOC emission source models from chamber testing data

  • Research Article
  • Indoor/Outdoor Airflow and Air Quality
  • Published:
Building Simulation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to evaluate the impacts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from building materials on the indoor air quality beyond the standard chamber test conditions and test period, mechanistic emission source models have been developed in the past. However, very limited data are available for the required model parameters including the initial concentration (Cm0), in-material diffusion coefficient (Dm), partition coefficient (Kma), and convective mass transfer coefficient (km). In this study, a procedure was developed for estimating the model parameters by using VOC emission data from standard small chamber tests. In the procedure, initial values of the model parameters were refined by multivariate regression analysis of the measured emission data. To verify the procedure and estimate its uncertainty, simulated chamber test data were generated by adding 10% experimental uncertainties on the theoretical curve from the analytical solution to a mechanistic emission model. Then the procedure was applied to the generated data to estimate the model parameters. Results indicated that estimates converged to the original parameter values used for the data generation and the error of estimated parameters Dm, Cm0 and Kma were within ±10%, ±23%, and ±25% of the true values, respectively. The procedure was further demonstrated by applying it to estimate the model parameters from real chamber test data. Wide application of the procedure would result in a database of mechanistic source model parameters for assessing the impact of VOC emissions on indoor pollution load, which are essential input data for evaluating the effectiveness of various indoor air quality (IAQ) design and control strategies as well as the energy required for meeting given IAQ requirements.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bodalal A (1999). Fundamental mass transfer modeling of emission of volatile organic compounds from building materials. PhD Thesis, Carleton University, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox SS, Zhao D, Little JC (2001). Measuring partition and diffusion coefficients for volatile organic compounds in vinyl flooring. Atmospheric Environment, 35: 3823–3830.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng B, Kim CN (2004). An analytical model for VOCs emission from dry building materials. Atmospheric Environment, 38: 1173–1180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He G, Yang X (2005). On regression method to obtain emission parameters of building materials. Building and Environment, 40: 1282–1287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He G, Yang X, Shaw CY (2005). Material emission parameters obtained through regression. Indoor and Built Environment, 14: 59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang H, Haghighat F (2002). Modelling of volatile organic compounds emission from dry building materials. Building and Environment, 37: 1349–1360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ISO (2011). Indoor Air—Part 6: Determination of volatile organic compounds in indoor and test chamber air by active sampling on Tenax TA sorbent, thermal desorption and gas chromatography using MS or MS-FID, Standard. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little JC, Hodgson AT, Gadgil AJ (1994). Modeling emissions of volatile organic compounds from new carpets. Atmospheric Environment, 28: 227–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magee R, Zhu J, Zhang J, Shaw C (1999). A small chamber test method for measuring volatile organic compound emission from “dry” building materials. Final report 1.2 of consortium for material emission and IAQ modelling (CMEIAQ) 1999, Institute for Research in Construction, NRC, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian K, Zhang Y, Little JC, Wang X (2007). Dimensionless correlations to predict VOC emissions from dry building materials. Atmospheric Environment, 41: 352–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rode C, Abadie M, Qin M, Grunewald J, Kolarik J, Laverge J (2016). IEA project on indoor air quality design and control in low energy residential buildings. In: Proceedings of the 12th REHVA World Congress.

  • White F (1988). Heat and Mass Transfer., Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiong J, Yao Y, Zhang Y (2011). C-history method: rapid measurement of the initial emittable concentration, diffusion and partition coefficients for formaldehyde and VOCs in building materials. Environmental Science & Technology, 45: 3584–3590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong J, Huang S, Zhang Y (2012). A novel method for measuring the diffusion, partition and convective mass transfer coefficients of formaldehyde and VOC in building materials. PLoS One, 7: e49342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong J, Wang L, Bai Y, Zhang Y (2013). Measuring the characteristic parameters of VOC emission from paints. Building and Environment, 66: 65–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Zhang JS (2011). An experimental study of relative humidity effect on VOCs’ effective diffusion coefficient and partition coefficient in a porous medium. Building and Environment, 46: 1785–1796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Chen Q, Zhang J, Magee R, Zeng J, Shaw C (2001). Numerical simulation of VOC emissions from dry materials. Building and Environment, 36: 1099–1107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JS, Shaw C (1997). Modelling of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from building materials/furnishings: A literature review. IRC/NRC Internal Research Report. National Research Council of Canada.

  • Zhang JS, Zhu JP, Shaw CY, Zeng J, Plett EG, Bodalal A, Chen Q, Yang X (1999). Development of standard small chamber test methods.

  • Zhang Y, Xu Y (2003). Characteristics and correlations of VOC emissions from building materials. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 46: 4877–4883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Zhang JS, Chen Q (2003). Effects of Environmental Conditions on the Sorption of VOCs on Building Materials—Part II: Model Evaluation. ASHRAE Transactions, 109(1): 167–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Li H, Zhang Z, Salonvaara M (2006). On the power-law model for predicting the VOC emissions from office workstation systems. In: Proceedings of the A and WMA Indoor Environmental Quality: Problems, Research and Solutions Conference, Durham, NC, USA.

  • Zhou X, Liu Y, Liu J (2018). Alternately airtight/ventilated emission method: A universal experimental method for determining the VOC emission characteristic parameters of building materials. Building and Environment, 130: 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, Magee R, Lusztyk E, Zhang J, Shaw C (1999). Material emission data for typical building materials: Small environmental chamber test. Final report 4.1 of consortium for material emission and IAQ modelling (CMEIAQ) 1999, Institute for Research in Construction, NRC, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, Zhang J, Shaw C (2001). Comparison of models for describing measured VOC emissions from wood-based panels under dynamic chamber test condition. Chemosphere, 44: 1253–1257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA

    Zhenlei Liu & Jianshun Zhang

  2. Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Andreas Nicolai & John Grunewald

  3. University of La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France

    Marc Abadie

  4. Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Menghao Qin

  5. School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Jianshun Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhenlei Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andreas Nicolai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marc Abadie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Menghao Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Grunewald
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jianshun Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianshun Zhang.

Electronic Supplementary Material

12273_2020_616_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Development of a procedure for estimating the parameters of mechanistic VOC emission source models from chamber testing data

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, Z., Nicolai, A., Abadie, M. et al. Development of a procedure for estimating the parameters of mechanistic VOC emission source models from chamber testing data. Build. Simul. 14, 269–282 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-020-0616-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-020-0616-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation