1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Air quality control in tight office buildings

AuthorNieh, Sheng-lin
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.EV-92-12
Subject(s)Air quality management
Air--Pollution, Indoor
NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
AbstractAfter working in tigh t buildings for several hours , many people suffer from headach e , fat i gu e or other discomfort . Th e causes of these symptoms are ambigu ous. Several typical air poll u tants were sel ected and studi ed to assess their accumul ation in tigh t buildings. A quantitative anal ysis of the h ou rly variation of indoor pollutants has been performed. The pollutants taken into account were carbon. diox ide from respiration , ozone from copying machines, s uspend e d particles from s moking, formalde hyde from furniture and carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from gas appliances. Their hourly concentra tions under various conditi ons of room area, source strength and ventilation rates were found and tabulated . These tables can serve as a handbook in ventilation design . I n an offi ce with air inlet a nd outlet located adjacen tly each other at ceiling, the air change rate (ACR) should equal to 1.5 pe r hour to maintain t h e co2 concentration und e r 2500 ppm. Wh ile air inlet a nd outl e t are located far separately and the air mixin g is complete, the ACR can b e reduced to 1 per hour. I n a room with a n area o f 20 m2 h avi ng copy mach ine (s) operated 12 00 times per h o ur, t h e ozone concentration is within a llowable level after 4 ho urs continuo us operation. Local exhaust ventilation nearby the poll utant sou rce is more effective and e nergy efficient than dilution ventilation. The energy required for various conditions of air quality, ventil ation rates and mixing efficienci es have been calculated and tabulated . The most econ omical method for the indoor air qual ity improveme nt is to increase the mixin g efficiency i n a new building. For existing buildings , where the indoor air qu a lity is poor and the increasing of ventilation rate i s infeasible , re locating the a ir o u t l et to improve mixi n g effi c iency or starting ventilation before off ice-hour is a feasible method for the improvement of i nd oor air qu a lity.
Year1992
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. EV-92-12
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC))
Academic Program/FoSEnvironmental Engineering (EV)
Chairperson(s)Zhuang, Ya-Hui
Examination Committee(s)Schroder, Hans;Surapong Chirarattananon
Scholarship Donor(s)Retire-Service Engineering Agency (RSEA) Taiwan , Republic of China
DegreeThesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1992


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