Characteristic parameters of pollutant emissions from building materials: high-precision measurement, model modification and environmental coupling effects

Abstract

Characteristic parameters play a pivotal role in the precise quantification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)/formaldehyde emissions. The concentration history (C-history) method is currently widely used for determining characteristic parameters. However, for airtight chamber experiments, this method requires measuring the equilibrium concentration of pollutants. For ventilated chamber experiments, the calculation results of this method cannot reflect the concentration of pollutants released in the early stages accurately. Therefore, this paper presents an improved airtight chamber C-history method. It eliminates the need to determine the pollutant equilibrium concentration. Compared with the existing method, it can accurately determine parameters using only the first half of the experimental data. Furthermore, in a ventilated chamber, the first two terms of the infinite-series analytical solution for the mass transfer model are used as an approximation. On this basis, a double-exponential ventilated chamber C-history method is developed to determine characteristic parameters. Compared with the previous approach, this method shortens the experimental time required for parameter calculation by nearly 40 h. The correlation coefficients (R²) between the simulation results and the experimental data is greater than 0.90, confirming the effectiveness of the method. In addition, on the basis of the MIP testing results for porous building materials and dimensional balance principles, empirical formulas for the diffusion and partition coefficients are modified. The modified formulas yield R² values greater than 0.93, validating the credibility of the proposed relationships. Ultimately, an exponential empirical model was formulated to determine the coupling effects of temperature and relative humidity on formaldehyde emissions.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Characteristic parameters / C-method / Indoor air quality (IAQ) / Empirical formula / Pollutant

Highlight

	● An improved airtight chamber C-history method is proposed.
	● A double-exponential ventilated chamber C-history method is introduced.
	● Dimensional balance formula for the characteristic coefficient is developed.
	● The environmental factors’ coupled effects on characteristic coefficient are shown.

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