scholarly journals Indoor Particle Concentrations, Size Distributions, and Exposures in Middle Eastern Microenvironments

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tareq Hussein ◽  
Ali Alameer ◽  
Omar Jaghbeir ◽  
Kolthoum Albeitshaweesh ◽  
Mazen Malkawi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Hookah Smoking ◽  
Combustion Processes ◽  
Gas Cooking ◽  
Indoor Combustion

There is limited research on indoor air quality in the Middle East. In this study, concentrations and size distributions of indoor particles were measured in eight Jordanian dwellings during the winter and summer. Supplemental measurements of selected gaseous pollutants were also conducted. Indoor cooking, heating via the combustion of natural gas and kerosene, and tobacco/shisha smoking were associated with significant increases in the concentrations of ultrafine, fine, and coarse particles. Particle number (PN) and particle mass (PM) size distributions varied with the different indoor emission sources and among the eight dwellings. Natural gas cooking and natural gas or kerosene heaters were associated with PN concentrations on the order of 100,000 to 400,000 cm−3 and PM2.5 concentrations often in the range of 10 to 150 µg/m3. Tobacco and shisha (waterpipe or hookah) smoking, the latter of which is common in Jordan, were found to be strong emitters of indoor ultrafine and fine particles in the dwellings. Non-combustion cooking activities emitted comparably less PN and PM2.5. Indoor cooking and combustion processes were also found to increase concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds. In general, concentrations of indoor particles were lower during the summer compared to the winter. In the absence of indoor activities, indoor PN and PM2.5 concentrations were generally below 10,000 cm−3 and 30 µg/m3, respectively. Collectively, the results suggest that Jordanian indoor environments can be heavily polluted when compared to the surrounding outdoor atmosphere primarily due to the ubiquity of indoor combustion associated with cooking, heating, and smoking.

scholarly journals Regional Inhaled Deposited Dose of Indoor Combustion-Generated Aerosols in Jordanian Urban Homes

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1150
Author(s):  
Tareq Hussein ◽  
Brandon E. Boor ◽  
Jakob Löndahl
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Dose Rate ◽  
Particle Number ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Combustion Products ◽  
Particle Mass ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Dose Rates ◽  
Combustion Processes ◽  
Indoor Combustion

Indoor combustion processes associated with cooking, heating, and smoking are a major source of aerosols in Jordanian dwellings. To evaluate human exposure to combustion-generated aerosols in Jordanian indoor environments, regional inhaled deposited dose rates of indoor aerosols (10 nm to 25 µm) were determined for different scenarios for adult occupants. The inhaled deposited dose rate provides an estimate of the number or mass of inhaled aerosol that deposits in each region of the respiratory system per unit time. In general, sub-micron particle number (PN1) dose rates ranged from 109 to 1012 particles/h, fine particle mass (PM2.5) dose rates ranged from 3 to 216 µg/h, and coarse particle mass (PM10) dose rates ranged from 30 to 1600 µg/h. Dose rates were found to be dependent on the type and intensity of indoor combustion processes documented in the home. Dose rates were highest during cooking activities using a natural gas stove, heating via natural gas and kerosene, and smoking (shisha/tobacco). The relative fraction of the total dose rate received in the head airways, tracheobronchial, and alveolar regions varied among the documented indoor combustion (and non-combustion) activities. The significant fraction of sub-100 nm particles produced during the indoor combustion processes resulted in high particle number dose rates for the alveolar region. Suggested approaches for reducing indoor aerosol dose rates in Jordanian dwellings include a reduction in the prevalence of indoor combustion sources, use of extraction hoods to remove combustion products, and improved ventilation/filtration in residential buildings.

scholarly journals Measurement of Surface Area Concentration of Fine Particulate Matter in Indoor Environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Pramod Pai
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Arithmetic Means ◽  
Indoor Exposure ◽  
Combustion Processes ◽  
Surface Area Concentration

Indoor exposure to fine particles (0.01-2.5 µm) is measured in the present study using Surface Area Concentration (SAC) metric for two indoor environment categories based on the cooking fuel used—kerosene and Liquid Petroleum Gas LPG. Study of SAC is very important from the point of view of health aspects. From the collected data, Arithmetic Means, Geometric Means, peak concentration values were determined to compare between the two categories of Indoor environment. The results show the two environments to be significantly different. Also, the results indicate remarkable high indoor surface area concentrations during the cooking and other combustion processes.

scholarly journals Size-resolved characterization of organic aerosol in the North China Plain: new insights from high resolution spectral analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqi Xu ◽  
Chun Chen ◽  
Yanmei Qiu ◽  
Conghui Xie ◽  
Yunle Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Organic aerosol (OA), a large fraction of fine particles, has a large impact on climate radiative forcing and human health, and the impact depends strongly on size distributions. Here we...

scholarly journals Species and characteristics of volatile organic compounds emitted from an auto-repair painting workshop

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Y. Song ◽  
H. Chun
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Butyl Acetate ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Voc Emissions ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Adsorption Systems

AbstractVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary pollutant precursors having adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Although VOC emissions, their sources, and impacts have been investigated, the focus has been on large-scale industrial sources or indoor environments; studies on relatively small-scale enterprises (e.g., auto-repair workshops) are lacking. Here, we performed field VOC measurements for an auto-repair painting facility in Korea and analyzed the characteristics of VOCs emitted from the main painting workshop (top coat). The total VOC concentration was 5069–8058 ppb, and 24–35 species were detected. The VOCs were mainly identified as butyl acetate, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene compounds. VOC characteristics differed depending on the paint type. Butyl acetate had the highest concentration in both water- and oil-based paints; however, its concentration and proportion were higher in the former (3256 ppb, 65.5%) than in the latter (2449 ppb, 31.1%). Comparing VOC concentration before and after passing through adsorption systems, concentrations of most VOCs were lower at the outlets than the inlets of the adsorption systems, but were found to be high at the outlets in some workshops. These results provide a theoretical basis for developing effective VOC control systems and managing VOC emissions from auto-repair painting workshops.

scholarly journals High- and low-temperature pyrolysis profiles describe volatile organic compound emissions from western US wildfire fuels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanako Sekimoto ◽  
Abigail R. Koss ◽  
Jessica B. Gilman ◽  
Vanessa Selimovic ◽  
Matthew M. Coggon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Voc Emissions ◽  
Western Us ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Low Temperature Pyrolysis ◽  
Pyrolysis Processes

Abstract. Biomass burning is a large source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and many other trace species to the atmosphere, which can act as precursors to the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and fine particles. Measurements collected with a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer during the FIREX 2016 laboratory intensive were analyzed with Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF), in order to understand the instantaneous variability in VOC emissions from biomass burning, and to simplify the description of these types of emissions. Despite the complexity and variability of emissions, we found that a solution including just two emission profiles, which are mass spectral representations of the relative abundances of emitted VOCs, explained on average 85 % of the VOC emissions across various fuels representative of the western US (including various coniferous and chaparral fuels). In addition, the profiles were remarkably similar across almost all of the fuel types tested. For example, the correlation coefficient r of each profile between Ponderosa pine (coniferous tree) and Manzanita (chaparral) is higher than 0.9. We identified the two VOC profiles as resulting from high-temperature and low-temperature pyrolysis processes known to form VOCs in biomass burning. High-temperature and low-temperature pyrolysis processes do not correspond exactly to the commonly used flaming and smoldering categories as described by modified combustion efficiency (MCE). The average atmospheric properties (e.g. OH reactivity, volatility, etc.) of the high- and low-temperature profiles are significantly different. We also found that the two VOC profiles can describe previously reported VOC data for laboratory and field burns. This indicates that the high- and low-temperature pyrolysis profiles could be widely useful to model VOC emissions from many types of biomass burning in the western US, with a few exceptions such as burns of duff and rotten wood.

Assessment of Turbulent Combustion Models for Simulating Pre-Chamber Ignition in a Natural Gas Engine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joohan Kim ◽  
Riccardo Scarcelli ◽  
Sibendu Som ◽  
Ashish Shah ◽  
Munidhar Biruduganti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Turbulent Combustion ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Turbulent Flame ◽  
Spark Ignition ◽  
Cylinder Wall ◽  
Gas Engine ◽  
Natural Gas Engine ◽  
Combustion Models ◽  
Combustion Processes

Abstract Lean combustion in an internal combustion engine is a promising strategy to increase thermal efficiency by leveraging a more favorable specific heat ratio of the fresh mixture and simultaneously suppressing the heat losses to the cylinder wall. However, unstable ignition events and slow flame propagation at fuel-lean condition lead to high cycle-to-cycle variability and hence limit the high-efficiency engine operating range. Pre-chamber ignition is considered an effective concept to extend the lean operating limit, by providing spatially distributed ignition with multiple turbulent flame-jets and enabling faster combustion rate compared to the conventional spark ignition approach. From a numerical modeling perspective, to date, still the science base and available simulation tools are inadequate for understanding and predicting the combustion processes in pre-chamber ignited engines. In this paper, conceptually different RANS combustion models widely adopted in the engine modeling community were used to simulate the ignition and combustion processes in a medium-duty natural gas engine with a pre-chamber spark-ignition system. A flamelet-based turbulent combustion model, i.e., G-equation, and a multi-zone well-stirred reactor model were employed for the multi-dimensional study. Simulation results were compared with experimental data in terms of in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate. Finally, the analysis of the performance of the two models is carried out to highlight the strengths and limitations of the two formulations respectively.

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