Understanding structure ignition vulnerabilities using mock‐up sections of attached wood fencing assemblies

Firebrand production from structure combustion becomes a key factor in the magnitude of how quickly a large outdoor fire may spread. Post‐fire disaster investigations suggest that attached building components, such as wood fencing assemblies are known to be prone to ignition in these fires, and may provide pathways to structure ignition. Here, a comparison of ignition results from full‐scale fencing assembly experiments conducted using a full‐scale wind tunnel facility, to mock‐ups of full‐scale fencing assemblies using the recently developed experimental capability at the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster (NRIFD) are discussed. In both experimental facilities, the fencing assemblies were exposed to firebrand showers using custom built continuous feed firebrand generators with size and mass distributions similar to those generated from structure combustion. Similar ignition behaviors were observed between the full‐scale fencing assemblies and the mock‐up of full‐scale fencing assemblies. Additional experiments are required for other fencing assembly types to further verify these important findings.     

A recurrent neural network using historical data to predict time series indoor PM2.5 concentrations for residential buildings

Due to the severe outdoor PM2.5 pollution in China, many people have installed air-cleaning systems in homes. To make the systems run automatically and intelligently, we developed a recurrent neural network (RNN) that uses historical data to predict the future indoor PM2.5 concentration. The RNN architecture includes an autoencoder and a recurrent part. We used data measured in an apartment over the course of an entire year to train and test the RNN. The data include indoor/outdoor PM2.5 concentration, environmental parameters and time of day. By comparing three different input strategies, we found that a strategy employing historical PM2.5 and time of day as inputs performed best. With this strategy, the model can be applied to predict the relatively stable trend of indoor PM2.5 concentration in advance. When the input length is 2 h and the prediction horizon is 30 min, the median prediction error is 8.3 µg/m³ for the whole test set. For times with indoor PM2.5 concentrations between (20,50] µg/m³ and (50,100] µg/m³, the median prediction error is 8.3 and 9.2 µg/m³, respectively. The low prediction error between the ground-truth and predicted values shows that the RNN can predict indoor PM2.5 concentrations with satisfactory performance.     

起重机械移动综合检测平台的研制开发

起重机械作为工业发展的基础性产业，其安全使用一直备受关注，有关的检测技术和手段日新月异。文中结合起重机械检验检测工作特点和流程，基于目前日趋成熟的移动实验室技术，提出了起重机械移动综合检测平台的设计方案。对现有检测手段、业务流程、办公软件、网络系统等进行整合，将检测平台结构分为车载基础和业务测试2个功能模块，实现了起重机械一站式的业务服务、检验检测、远程联检等功能，推进检验检测工作提质增效，并具有一定的扩展性，为智慧特检提供了一种思路。     

Real-time characterization of aerosol particle composition,sources and influences of increased ventilation and humidity in an office

Most of human exposure to atmospheric pollutants occurs indoors, and the components of outdoor aerosols may have been changed in the way before reaching indoor spaces. Here we conducted real-time online measurements of mass concentrations and chemical composition of black carbon and the non-refractory species in PM_2.5 in an occupied office for approximately one month. The open-close windows and controlled dampness experiments were also performed. Our results show that indoor aerosol species primarily originate from outdoors with indoor/outdoor ratio of these species typically less than unity except for certain organic aerosol (OA) factors. All aerosol species went through filtration upon transport indoors. Ammonium nitrate and fossil fuel OA underwent evaporation or particle-to-gas partitioning, while less oxidized secondary OA (SOA) underwent secondary formation and cooking OA might have indoor sources. With higher particulate matter (PM) mass concentration outdoors than in the office, elevated natural ventilation increased PM exposure indoors and this increased exposure was prolonged when outdoor PM was scavenged. We found that increasing humidity in the office led to higher indoor PM mass concentration particularly more oxidized SOA. Overall, our results highlight that indoor exposure of occupants is substantially different from outdoor in terms of mass concentrations and chemical species.     

Correlating indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity in a sample of buildings in tropical climates

The incidence of several respiratory viral infections has been shown to be related to climate. Because humans spend most of their time indoors, measures of indoor climate, rather than outdoor climate, may be better predictors of disease incidence and transmission. Therefore, understanding the relationship between indoor and outdoor climate will help illuminate their influence on the seasonality of diseases caused by respiratory viruses. Indoor-outdoor relationships between temperature and humidity have been documented in temperate regions, but little information is available for tropical regions, where seasonal patterns of respiratory viral diseases differ. We have examined indoor-outdoor correlations of temperature, relative humidity (RH), and absolute humidity (AH) over a 1-year period in each of seven tropical cities. Across all cities, the average monthly indoor temperature was 25 ± 3°C (mean ± standard deviation) with a range of 20–30°C. The average monthly indoor RH was 66 ± 9% with a range of 50–78%, and the average monthly indoor AH was 15 ± 3 g/m³ with a range of 10–23 g/m³. Indoor AH and RH were linearly correlated with outdoor AH when the air conditioning (AC) was off, suggesting that outdoor AH may be a good proxy of indoor humidity in the absence of AC. All indoor measurements were more strongly correlated with outdoor measurements as distance from the equator increased. Such correlations were weaker during the wet season, especially when AC was in operation. These correlations will provide insight for assessing the seasonality of respiratory viral infections using outdoor climate data, which is more widely available than indoor data, even though transmission of these diseases mainly occurs indoors.     

商用空调室外机冷凝器的布局和设计分析

冷凝器是空调室外机中的重要零部件,根据其结构形式的不同可分为多种不同的类型。商用空调中常用类型为翅片管式冷凝器,它在不同类型的空调室外机中有不同的布局和结构。本文重点分析商用顶出风空调室外机中冷凝器的布局和设计。     

节能建筑冬季供暖临界温度

给出了节能建筑供暖临界温度的计算方法，讨论了日照、建筑节能设计的影响，说明日照率低的地区供暖临界温度偏高，日照率高的地区增大南向窗墙比有利于建筑节能。     

Ultrafine particle concentrations and exposures in seven residences in northern California

Human exposures to ultrafine particles (UFP) are poorly characterized given the potential associated health risks. Residences are important sites of exposure. To characterize residential exposures to UFP in some circumstances and to investigate governing factors, seven single-family houses in California were studied during 2007-2009. During multiday periods, time-resolved particle number concentrations were monitored indoors and outdoors and information was acquired concerning occupancy, source-related activities, and building operation. On average, occupants were home for 70% of their time. The geometric mean time-average residential exposure concentration for 21 study subjects was 14,500 particles per cm(3) (GSD = 1.8; arithmetic mean ± standard deviation = 17,000 ± 10,300 particles per cm(3)). The average contribution to residential exposures from indoor episodic sources was 150% of the contribution from particles of outdoor origin. Unvented natural-gas pilot lights contributed up to 19% to exposure for the two households where present. Episodic indoor source activities, most notably cooking, caused the highest peak exposures and most of the variation in exposure among houses. Owing to the importance of indoor sources and variations in the infiltration factor, residential exposure to UFP cannot be characterized by ambient measurements alone. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Indoor and outdoor sources each contribute to residential ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations and exposures. Under the conditions investigated, peak exposure concentrations indoors were associated with cooking, using candles, or the use of a furnace. Active particle removal systems can mitigate exposure by reducing the persistence of particles indoors. Eliminating the use of unvented gas pilot lights on cooking appliances could also be beneficial. The study results indicate that characterization of human exposure to UFP, an air pollutant of emerging public health concern, cannot be accomplished without a good understanding of conditions inside residences.     

The analysis of PM2.5 and associated elements and their indoor/outdoor pollution status in an urban area

In this study, elemental composition of PM2.5 and the status of indoor/outdoor pollution were investigated in a commercial building near a roadside area in Daejeon, Korea. A total of 60 parallel PM2.5 samples were collected both on the roof (outdoor) and in an indoor office of a building near a highly congested road during the spring and fall of 2008. The concentrations of 23 elements were analysed from these PM2.5 samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis. PM2.5 levels in indoor environment (47.6 ± 16.5 μg/m(3)) were noticeably higher than the outdoor levels (37.7 ± 17.2 μg/m(3)) with the I/O concentration ratio of 1.37 ± 0.33 [correlation coefficient (r) = 0.89, P < 0.001]. Principal component analysis results coincidently showed the predominance of sources such as soil dust, traffic, oil/coal combustion and road dust for both indoor and outdoor microenvironments. An isolated source in the indoor environment was assigned to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) with high factor loading of Ce, Cl, I, K, La and Zn. The overall results of our study indicate that the sources of indoor constituents were strongly dependent on outdoor processes except for the ones affected by independent sources such as ETS. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: An improved understanding of the factors affecting the indoor PM2.5 concentration levels can lead to the development of an efficient management strategy to control health risks from exposure to indoor PM2.5 and related toxic components. A comparison of our comprehensive data sets indicated that most indoor PM2.5 and associated elemental species were strongly enriched by indoor source activities along with infiltration of ambient outdoor air for a naturally ventilated building.     

城市户外闲暇活动的空间环境与人的行为特征

以昆明为观察对象，对闲暇时间城市的户外活动人群和活动环境进行了研究，解读人的行为特征与城市环境特征，分析了影响城市户外闲暇活动的两大因素之间的关系。