CHEMISTRY, EMISSION CONTROL, RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION AND INDOOR AIR QUALITY Edited by Nicolás A. Mazzeo Chemistry, Emission Control, Radioactive Pollution and Indoor Air Quality Edited by Nicolás A Mazzeo Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access articles distributed under the Creative Commons Non Commercial Share Alike Attribution 3.0 license, which permits to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work in any medium, so long as the original work is properly cited After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published articles The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book Publishing Process Manager Natalia Reinic Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer Jan Hyrat Image Copyright Mikael Damkier, 2010 Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published June, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Chemistry, Emission Control, Radioactive Pollution and Indoor Air Quality, Edited by Nicolás A Mazzeo p cm ISBN 978-953-307-316-3 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface IX Part Chapter Part Air Pollution Chemistry Al2O3-enhanced Macro/Mesoporous Fe/TiO2 for Breaking Down Nitric Oxide Dieqing Zhang and Guisheng Li Air Pollutant Emission Control 15 Chapter Carbon Dioxide Capture and Air Quality 17 Joris Koornneef, Toon van Harmelen, Arjan van Horssen and Andrea Ramirez Chapter Municipal Waste Plastic Conversion into Different Category of Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuel Moinuddin Sarker 45 Chapter Removal of VOCs Using Nonthermal Plasma Technology 81 Tao Zhu Chapter Lab-scale Evaluation of Two Biotechnologies to Treat VOC Air Emissions: Comparison with a Biotrickling Pilot Unit Installed in the Plastic Coating Sector 133 F Javier Álvarez-Hornos, Feliu Sempere, Marta Izquierdo and Carmen Gabaldón Part Radioactive Pollution 151 Chapter Nano Aerosols Including Radon Decay Products in Ambient Air 153 Janja Vaupotič Chapter Effect of Updating Meteorological Data on Assessment Modeling Using VENTSAR XL© 191 Eduardo B Farfán VI Contents Part Indoor Air Quality 211 Chapter Sensing a Historic Low-CO2 Future 213 Colin D A Porteous Chapter One-Way ANOVA Method to Relate Microbial Air Content and Environmental Conditions 247 José A Orosa Chapter 10 Indoor Air Quality - Volatile Organic Compounds: Sources, Sampling and Analysis 261 Alessandro Bacaloni, Susanna Insogna and Lelio Zoccolillo Chapter 11 Statistical Considerations for Bioaerosol Health-Risk Exposure Analysis M.D Larrañaga, E Karunasena, H.W Holder, E.D Althouse and D.C Straus 277 Chapter 12 Distributed Smart Sensing Systems for Indoor Monitoring of Respiratory Distress Triggering Factors 311 Octavian Postolache, José Miguel Pereira, Pedro Silva Girão and Gabriela Postolache Chapter 13 An Exposure Model for Identifying Health Risk due to Environmental Microbial Contamination in the Healthcare Setting 331 Michael D Larrañaga, Enusha Karunasena, H.W Holder, Eric D Althouse and David C Straus Chapter 14 Air Change Measurements Using Tracer Gases Detlef Laussmann and Dieter Helm Chapter 15 Olfactory Comfort Assurance in Buildings 407 Sârbu Ioan and Sebarchievici Călin Chapter 16 Chronic Solvent Encephalopathy in a Printing Unit for Flexible Packaging 429 Aida Benzarti Mezni and Abdelmajid Ben Jemâa Chapter 17 Indoor Air Pollutants and the Impact on Human Health 447 Marios P Tsakas, Apostolos P Siskos and Panayotis A Siskos Chapter 18 Moisture and Estimation of Moisture Generation Rate Tao Lu, Xiaoshu Lu and Martti Viljanen 365 485 Contents Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Volumetric Monitoring and Modeling of Indoor Air and Pollutant Dispersion by the Use of 3D Particle Tracking Velocimetry Pascal Biwole, Wei Yan, Eric Favier, Yuanhui Zhang and Jean-Jacques Roux Wind Driven Ventilation for Enhanced Indoor Air Quality Jason Lien and N.A Ahmed 507 539 Chapter 21 Improving the Quality of the Indoor Environment Utilizing Desiccant-Assisted Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Systems 563 M.D Larrañaga, E Karunasena, H.W Holder, M.G Beruvides and D.C Straus Chapter 22 Indoor Climate and Energy Performance in Typical Concrete Large-panel Apartment Buildings Teet-Andrus Koiv and Targo Kalamees 597 Chapter 23 Air Quality in Rural Areas J P Majra 619 Chapter 24 CFD Analyses of Methods to Improve Air Quality and Efficiency of Air Cleaning in Pig Production 639 Bjarne Bjerg, Guo-Qiang Zhang and Peter Kai Chapter 25 Air Quality in Horse Stables 655 Lena Elfman, Robert Wålinder, Miia Riihimäki and John Pringle VII Preface The atmosphere may be our most precious resource Accordingly, the balance between its use and protection is a high priority for our civilization Air pollution has been with man since the first fire was lit, although, different aspects have been important at different times While many of us would consider air pollution to be an issue that the modern world has resolved to a greater extent, it still appears to have considerable influence on the global environment In many countries with ambitious economic growth targets the acceptable levels of air pollution have been transgressed Serious respiratory disease related problems have been identified with both indoor and outdoor pollution throughout the world In this century there has come to significant developments in science, technology and public policy of air pollution The 25 chapters of this book deal with several air pollution issues grouped into the following sections: a) air pollution chemistry; b) air pollutant emission control; c) radioactive pollution and d) indoor air quality The first section includes only one chapter prepared by an expert from China This chapter describes how the introduction of aluminium oxide phase can effectively enhance textural properties and thermal stability, resulting in an improvement in photocatalytic activity over the hierarchically macro/mesoporous Fe/TiO2 photocatalysts This chapter shows that the hierarchical macro/mesoporous Fe/TiO2 photocatalysts are effective visible-light-driven photocatalytic functional materials for air purification The second section includes four chapters Their authors are from Netherlands, USA, China and Spain Chapter provides an overview of the existing scientific base and insights into ongoing and needed scientific research and development on several aspects (as emission, capture, transport and storage, air quality policy) of carbon dioxide, one of the most important greenhouse gases Chapter discusses techniques of the conversion of municipal waste plastics to liquid hydrocarbon fuel Chapter describes the use of non-thermal plasma technology in air pollution control in the abatement of hazardous air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds Chapter presents studies conducted to assess environmentally friendly biotechnologies, such as biofilters and biotrickling filters, for VOC abatement in air The third section has two chapters, which have been prepared by authors from Slovenia and USA Chapter presents the results of parallel monitoring of radon decay X Preface products and general aerosols that was performed in air of the Postojna Cave (size range 10–1100 nm) and in a dwelling (size range 5–350 nm) in a suburban area Chapter presents comparisons of wind frequencies among four five-year periods for various locations where the possibility of radionuclide releases exist and the comparison among test cases for these periods involving a dose assessment model used to estimate dose following short-term atmospheric releases Seventeen chapters constitute the fourth section Their authors are from United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, USA, Portugal, USA, Germany, Romania, Tunisia, Greece, Finland, USA-France, Australia, USA, Estonia, India, Denmark and Sweden Chapter gives a historical review on the role of carbon dioxide as an indicator of air quality inside buildings It serves to strengthen the case for an upgrade of regulations pertaining to air quality, which would require both consistent design standards and a new model for post occupancy evaluation or building performance evaluation Chapter studies the relation between indoor air conditions with fungi and bacteria growth, using a well known statistical technique and considering parameters as indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity, pets’ presence and localised humidity problems Chapter 10 describes how the indoor air quality assessment and control is necessary to evaluate the occupants’ discomfort and health effects and to develop guidelines and standards The chapter focuses on the indoor air quality assessment of VOCs (identification of sources, sampling methods and analysis of data) Chapter 11 evaluates the effectiveness of air sampling in detecting differences in fungal and bacterial bioaerosols in a building with environmental fungal and bacterial contamination Chapter 12 summarises the main elements of a distributed smart sensing network for indoor air quality assessment This system may provide an intelligent assessment of air conditions for risk factor reduction of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chapter 13 describes an exposure model for identifying health risk due to environmental microbial contamination in hospitals, based on the American Industrial Hygiene Association Exposure Assessment Strategy Chapter 14 deals with different methods that can be used to determine the air change rate between indoor and outdoor using tracer gas measurements This chapter also includes a discussion on the dependence of air change from the prevailing weather conditions, such as the current wind and temperature conditions In chapter 15 an olfactory comfort analysis in buildings is performed This chapter describes the development of a computational model for indoor air quality numerical simulation and a methodology to determine the outside airflow rate and to verify the indoor air quality in enclosed spaces Chapter 16 presents the results of the assessment of solvent exposure and the evaluation of neuro-psychological effects related to chronic exposure to solvents, obtained from an epidemiological survey carried out in a printing company for flexible packaging where large quantities of organic solvents are used Chapter 17 focuses on the pollutants common to indoor and outdoor air environments and those who are measured more often in indoor environments and whether likely levels of exposure are hazardous to human health and the environment Furthermore, indoor moisture is an important factor decreasing indoor air quality and limiting the building service life In this sense, chapter 18 presents a mathematical method to predict indoor moisture generation rate and to determine indoor moisture generation levels that can be used in predicting building heat 666 Chemistry, Emission Control, Radioactive Pollution and Indoor Air Quality A B CD E Fig Ultrafine particles (P-Trak) and PM10 particles (Dust-Trak) logged during 24 hours A=horses let out; B=measurements in stable; C=cleaning the stables from urine and faeces D= horses let into stable; E= evening feed Results from total and respirable dust measurements are shown in Figure 7, and show variation between seasons: higher in winter when doors and windows are closed and lower in summer when they are kept open These results are from a stable housing 18 horses and without mechanical ventilation The bedding was straw Horses were fed three times a day with haylage and pelleted fodder The organic dust level was approximately 70% of total dust (range 0.4 – 0.8 mg/m3), which is well below the Swedish hygienic limit value for humans (5 mg/m3) (Swedish Work Environment Authority, 2005) or the Dutch proposed occupational exposure limit of nuisance dust which is the same as for horses (10 mg/m3) According to Sadegh and co-workers (Sadegh et al., 2009) dust, endotoxin and 1-3-β-glucan are considerable in horse stables, while bacterial and fungal exposures are moderate They reported that sweeping the floor is the predominant task that explains high levels of dust, endotoxin, and 1-3-β-glucan, and feeding the horses is a specifically important contributor for high 1-3-β-glucan levels Levels of airborne bacteria were slightly increased in February and September of year 1, but were normal in March of year 2, while fungi were slightly increased at all three sampling times compared to reference environments without microbial damage (Figure 8a) Samples from the indoor walls showed slightly increased levels of bacteria in February, year 1, but were normal in September, year and March, year 2, compared to unaffected building materials Levels of fungi were slightly increased on the inner wall surfaces at all three sampling times (Figure 8b) Endotoxin levels were lower in winter (February year 1, median ng/m3) and increased somewhat in the summer (September year 1, median 14 ng/m3) Levels of 1-3-β-glucan, on the other hand, were higher in the winter sampling time 667 Air Quality in Horse Stables (February year 1, 1.85 ng/m3), and lower in summer (September year 1, 1.21 ng/m3) (Riihimäki et al., 2008) Total and Respirable dust 2,50 mg/m3 2,00 1,50 Respirable Total 1,00 0,50 0,00 Feb year Sep year Mar year Fig Levels of total and respirable dust at three sampling time points Fig a) Levels of total microorganisms in air samples; b) levels of total microorganisms in surface samples, at three sampling points: Feb, year 1; Sep, year 1; and Mar, year 668 Chemistry, Emission Control, Radioactive Pollution and Indoor Air Quality 3.1.2 Bedding material and influence on air quality The choice of bedding material affects the air quality in stables Some materials are dustier than others and the capability to reduce ammonia varies a lot (Fleming et al., 2008a, 2008b; Airaksinen et al., 2005) We have gained some experience by evaluating two bedding materials: peat and pelleted pine sawdust The latter material is also used for heating houses The pellets are distributed over the floor in the stall and then watered until they fall apart and form a soft bed This material can retain a lot of water or urine, without feeling wet, and is a very suitable material for permanent bedding The following hygienic measurements were investigated: particles, temperature, air humidity, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds, horse allergen and ammonia Samples from the two bedding materials were also analyzed for microorganisms The results showed that there were no differences in levels of PM10-particles (