Results of the California Healthy Homes Indoor Air Quality Study of 2011–2013: impact of natural gas appliances on air pollutant concentrations

This study was conducted to assess the current impact of natural gas appliances on air quality in California homes. Data were collected via telephone interviews and measurements inside and outside of 352 homes. Passive samplers measured time‐resolved CO and time‐integrated NO_X, NO₂, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde over ~6‐day periods in November 2011 – April 2012 and October 2012 – March 2013. The fraction of indoor NO_X and NO₂ attributable to indoor sources was estimated. NO_X, NO₂, and highest 1‐h CO were higher in homes that cooked with gas and increased with amount of gas cooking. NO_X and NO₂ were higher in homes with cooktop pilot burners, relative to gas cooking without pilots. Homes with a pilot burner on a floor or wall furnace had higher kitchen and bedroom NO_X and NO₂ compared to homes without a furnace pilot. When scaled to account for varying home size and mixing volume, indoor‐attributed bedroom and kitchen NO_X and kitchen NO₂ were not higher in homes with wall or floor furnace pilot burners, although bedroom NO₂ was higher. In homes that cooked 4 h or more with gas, self‐reported use of kitchen exhaust was associated with lower NO_X, NO₂, and highest 1‐h CO. Gas appliances were not associated with higher concentrations of formaldehyde or acetaldehyde.     

Airborne particulate matter and gaseous air pollutants in residential structures in Lodi province, Italy

The province of Lodi is located in northern Italy on the Po River plain, where high background levels of air pollutants are prevalent. Lodi province is characterized by intensive agriculture, notably animal husbandry. This paper assesses indoor levels of selected airborne pollutants in 60 homes in the province, with special attention to size-fractionated particulate matter (PM). Indoor PM?.? concentrations are frequently higher than current guidelines. PM?? and nitrogen dioxide also exceed the respective guideline recommendations in some cases, noting that 24-h nitrogen dioxide levels were compared with an annual limit value. All other studied pollutant levels are below current international guidelines. Among indoor PM size fractions, PM?.? is predominant in terms of mass concentrations corresponding to 57% of PM?? in summer and 71% in winter. A strong seasonal trend is observed for all studied pollutants, with higher levels in winter corresponding to changes in ambient concentrations. The seasonal variation in PM?? is largely due to PM?.? increase from summer to winter. Summer indoor PM levels are mainly from indoor-generated particles, while particles of outdoor origin represent the main contribution to winter indoor PM levels. On average, indoor concentrations of coarse PM are mostly constituted by indoor-generated particles. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This study presents a comparison between measured indoor concentrations in the study area and indoor air quality guideline criteria. Accordingly, particulate matter (PM) and NO? are identified as key pollutants that may pose health concerns. It is also found that indoor PM in residential units is mainly constituted by particles with aerodynamic diameters <0.5 μm, especially in winter. Risk mitigation strategies should be focused on the reduction in indoor levels of NO? and ultrafine and fine particles, both infiltrated from outdoors and generated by indoor sources.     

CO2, CO, and Hg emissions from the Truman Shepherd and Ruth Mullins coal fires, eastern Kentucky, USA

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and mercury (Hg) emissions were quantified for two eastern Kentucky coal-seam fires, the Truman Shepherd fire in Floyd County and the Ruth Mullins fire in Perry County. This study is one of the first to estimate gas emissions from coal fires using field measurements at gas vents. The Truman Shepherd fire emissions are nearly 1400 t CO₂/yr and 16 kg Hg/yr resulting from a coal combustion rate of 450-550 t/yr. The sum of CO₂ emissions from seven vents at the Ruth Mullins fire is 726 ± 72 t/yr, suggesting that the fire is consuming about 250-280 t coal/yr. Total Ruth Mullins fire CO and Hg emissions are estimated at 21 ± 1.8 t/yr and > 840 ± 170 g/yr, respectively. The CO₂ emissions are environmentally significant, but low compared to coal-fired power plants; for example, 3.9 × 10⁶ t CO₂/yr for a 514-MW boiler in Kentucky. Using simple calculations, CO₂ and Hg emissions from coal-fires in the U.S. are estimated at 1.4 × 10⁷-2.9 × 10⁸ t/yr and 0.58-11.5 t/yr, respectively. This initial work indicates that coal fires may be an important source of CO₂, CO, Hg and other atmospheric constituents.     

烟气中一氧化碳含量计算公式的探讨

讨论了燃具标准中烟气中一氧化碳含量计算公式的使用条件以及计算中应注意的问题.     

Indoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide from burning solid fuels for cooking and heating in Yunnan Province,China

The Chinese national pollution census has indicated that the domestic burning of solid fuels is an important contributor to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions in China. To characterize indoor NO₂ and SO₂ air concentrations in relation to solid fuel use and stove ventilation in the rural counties of Xuanwei and Fuyuan, in Yunnan Province, China, which have among the highest lung cancer rates in the nation, a total of 163 participants in 30 selected villages were enrolled. Indoor 24‐h NO₂ and SO₂ samples were collected in each household over two consecutive days. Compared to smoky coal, smokeless coal use was associated with higher NO₂ concentrations [geometric mean (GM) = 132 μg/m³ for smokeless coal and 111 μg/m³ for smoky coal, P = 0.065] and SO₂ [limit of detection = 24 μg/m³; percentage detected (%Detect) = 86% for smokeless coal and 40% for smoky coal, P < 0.001]. Among smoky coal users, significant variation of NO₂ and SO₂ air concentrations was observed across different stove designs and smoky coal sources in both counties. Model construction indicated that the measurements of both pollutants were influenced by stove design. This exposure assessment study has identified high levels of NO₂ and SO₂ as a result of burning solid fuels for cooking and heating.     

内燃灶结构与工作原理

应用内燃技术,集成传统燃气灶及吸油烟机的结构原理和功能提出了一种新型的燃气灶——内燃灶,工作时油烟、水蒸气、空气及燃气混合气在高于大气压的炉腔内充分燃烧,废气在排出到室外的过程中加热将要进入炉腔的气体,理论上具有热效率高、安全环保、成本低、维修方便的特点.研制了内燃灶原理验证样机,通过试验燃气燃烧比较正常,内燃灶的工作原理得到验证.     

燃气供热锅炉不完全燃烧的调整

阐述了燃气锅炉在供热运行中燃烧器出现的不完全燃烧现象,分析了不完全燃烧产生的危害、原因,提出了解决问题的措施。经测试,调整后效果良好。     

A laboratory experiment of shear-induced natural ventilation

When the wind direction is parallel to the opening façade, the wind shear near the building opening generates turbulence and entrains air across the opening. This kind of shear-induced ventilation cannot be predicted by the orifice equation because the time-averaged pressure difference across the opening is close to zero. This study uses wind tunnel experiments and the tracer gas decay method to investigate the ventilation rate of shear-induced ventilation. The influences of opening area A, external wind speed U and wind direction on the ventilation rates Q, of single-sided and two-sided openings are systemically examined. The experimental results indicate that the dimensionless ventilation rate, Q^* = Q/UA, of shear-induced ventilation is independent of the wind speed and opening area, and the value of Q^* of two-sided openings is larger than that of a single-sided opening. In addition, a cosine law was used to predict the ventilation rate of building with two-sided openings under various wind directions, and the results are compared with the prediction of the multizone ventilation model COMIS.     

Impact of control rules on the efficiency of shading devices and free cooling for office buildings

To develop low-energy architecture, designers need knowledge about passive cooling techniques and shading devices. This paper focuses on the impact of management strategies for external mobile shadings and cooling by natural ventilation. Various control rules are simulated for both techniques. Resulting energy demand and comfort conditions are discussed. For shadings, strategies based on both internal temperature and solar irradiation set points are shown to be more efficient than strategies based on solar irradiation or internal temperature alone. For natural ventilation, strategies limiting the flow rate when outside temperature exceeds internal temperature are found to have no major impact on comfort conditions for the Belgian weather. A flow rate limitation when external temperature drops is found to be efficient to save energy. Objectives of this paper are to show that management choices have a real impact on energy and comfort criteria and to help designers to choose the adequate management rules for their projects.     

Effectiveness of Portable Indoor Air Cleaners: Sensory Testing Results

The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of individual commercially available portable indoor air cleaning units in removing dust particulates, tobacco smoke particulate and vapor phase constituents (nicotine and vinyl pyridine), viable and total fungal spores, pollen, and gaseous contaminants (carbon monoxide[CO], nitrogen dioxide[NO²], and formaldehyde[HCHO]), in a clean air test chamber. The air cleaner chamber results presented here represent initial-use results. In general, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) and electrostatic precipitator systems demonstrated the highest efficiencies with respect to particulate, contaminants, followed closely by electret filter systems. Ionizers and ozone generators were least effective in particulate removal. Systems which included sufficient sorbent material (i.e. activated carbon or potassium permanganate) were marginally effective at gaseous contaminant removal. None of the systems tested were effective at carbon monoxide removal. Sensory testing was conducted to discern potential correlation between human perceptive response and measured air cleaner performance (with respect to tobacco smoke removal). An electret filter (EF) loaded with carbon sorbent received the best ratings with respect to odor strength, nasal irritation, eye irritation, and overall air acceptability.     

Investigation of the effects of exhaust and power loss in dual-fuel six-stroke engine with EGR technology

ABSTRACT

In today’s world, the usage of internal combustion engines is inevitable. Particularly the diesel engines find their importance more than the petrol engines due to their operating cost. But diesel engines have their demerits in the area of exhaust and power loss. Necessary steps have to be taken in order to effectively use the fuel available. In this technical presentation, we have discussed about the utilisation of six-stroke engines which run on dual fuel. The six-stroke engine’s principle resembles a double-stage compressor. By this way, effective compression is done and the need for turbocharger is completely neglected. We have also considered cylinder’s position in a six-stroke engine. As the lubrication and cooling system needs special attention in the case of opposing-type cylinders, we have formulated a better and simple arrangement in which same power is produced, eradicating the lubrication problems. Also, the pollution (NOx) emitted by the diesel engines is also taken into account. We found the solution in the form of dual-fuel and exhaust gas recirculation system. The combusting temperature of the diesel engine is above 2000°F and this is the prime reason for NOx emission. So an alternative fuel which can be combusted below the level of diesel should be used. Moreover, the availability and production cost must be taken into consideration. We found ethanol as a better alternative for diesel. The cold starting of the engine is made easier using a glow plug, which is used to preheat the charge coming inside the combustion chamber.     

三面风幕式抽油烟机的性能研究

提出了一种三面风幕式抽油烟机装置,在实验室搭建实验台,通过流场可视化实验和示踪气体浓度测量,确定了合适的风幕运行参数,并测量了人员呼吸区浓度和排烟浓度,计算了时间加权平均浓度和油烟捕集效率.结果 表明,风幕能有效阻隔包括人员走动在内的各种干扰,开启风幕时的人员呼吸区浓度远低于不开启风幕时,油烟捕集效率至少提高22％.     

CFD analysis of ventilation effectiveness in a public transport interchange

A study was conducted into the ventilation effectiveness of a ventilation system within a public transport interchange (PTI) in Hong Kong. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD), steady state computational model of the PTI was used to investigate and predict the typical pollutant emission pattern for buses. In Hong Kong, the displacement ventilation (DV) scheme is often employed for the PTI. The numerical simulation investigates the effectiveness of the DV system in removing pollutants from the occupied zone. An alternative model is proposed where the supply is located at the ceiling and the exhausts are located at the lower part of the columns. It was found that both systems could adequately ventilate the PTI; however, the ceiling based air supply system is able to provide improved thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ).     

Performance assessment of air quality monitoring networks using principal component analysis and cluster analysis

This study aims to evaluate the performance of two statistical methods, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, for the management of air quality monitoring network of Hong Kong and the reduction of associated expenses. The specific objectives include: (i) to identify city areas with similar air pollution behavior; and (ii) to locate emission sources. The statistical methods were applied to the mass concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), respirable suspended particulates (RSP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), collected in monitoring network of Hong Kong from January 2001 to December 2007.     

Evaluating the influence of openings configuration on natural ventilation performance of residential units in Hong Kong

Natural ventilation performance of a residential dwelling is affected by a combination of internal and external factors. External factors are often subject to constraints beyond the control of site planners and architects. Internal factors include the openings configuration, which site planners and architects are free to design the way they deem proper. However, little information is available in this regard. In this study, a case study was conducted by tracer-gas measurements at a carefully selected residential unit for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model validation. A hypothetical residential unit was formulated to represent the characteristics of typical residential units in Hong Kong. CFD simulations were performed based on the hypothetical unit to evaluate the influence of different openings configurations on natural ventilation performance using the mean age of air. Openings configuration is defined by many parameters. Among the three studied parameters, evaluation results indicate that natural ventilation performance of residential units was most affected by the relative position of the two window openings groups (i.e. bedroom windows and living room windows), followed by building orientation and doors positions. It was found that better natural ventilation performance could be achieved when the two openings groups were positioned in opposite directions or perpendicular to each other. The combined effect of the three parameters was evaluated. It was found that varying two parameters at the same time offered positive improvements in natural ventilation performance, but varying all three parameters did not result in any improvement because of the counter-effects of changes in doors positions.     

机内燃气微漏对燃气热水器性能影响的研究

根据理论分析和试验验证,机内燃气微漏是家用恒温燃气热水器事故的重要原因。在机内燃气微漏热水器性能试验的基础上,对机内燃气微漏产生的根源、燃烧机理及特性、对热水器性能的影响、产生的危害、控制与预防进行了多角度的研究。     

燃气锅炉的性能测试与分析

对150台燃气锅炉的主要性能进行了测试,对烟气中污染物排放量、热效率、噪声和炉体表面温度等测试结果进行了分析,提出了改进建议。     

Life cycle assessment of vertical and horizontal flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment considering nitrogen and carbon greenhouse gas emissions

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to compare the environmental impacts of vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCW) and horizontal flow constructed wetlands (HFCW). The LCAs include greenhouse gas (N₂O, CO₂ and CH₄) emissions. Baseline constructed wetland designs are compared to different treatment performance scenarios and to conventional wastewater treatment at the materials acquisition, assembly and operation life stages. The LCAs suggest that constructed wetlands have less environmental impact, in terms of resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The VFCW is a less impactful configuration for removing total nitrogen from domestic wastewater. Both wetland designs have negligible impacts on respiratory organics, radiation and ozone. Gaseous emissions, often not included in wastewater LCAs because of lack of data or lack of agreement on impacts, have the largest impact on climate change. Nitrous oxide accounts for the increase in impact on respiratory inorganic, and the combined acidification/eutrophication category. The LCAs were used to assess the importance of nitrogen removal and recycling, and the potential for optimizing nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands.     

多孔金属板燃气灶燃烧性能数值模拟

应用FLUENT软件对影响多孔金属板燃气灶燃烧性能的多个参数进行了控制变量的数值模拟,对各参数进行归一化处理与敏感性分析,探讨各参数对灶具燃烧性能的影响。简化模拟计算,取多孔金属板上的一个单火孔的一半作为数值模拟对象并划分网格进行模拟。得出以下结论:火焰中心位置随板面表面发射率的增大而上升,表面发射率的增大使氮氧化物体积分数峰值出现下降,降幅约7.9%。表面发射率的增大在维持火焰温度基本不变且氮氧化物排放降低的情况下,提升了火焰位置,因此为提升灶具热效率,应将主要优化方向集中在通过表面处理以提高板面的表面发射率。灶具热负荷和火孔内直径的增加对上板面温度的提升有明显的促进作用,当热负荷从3.1 kW增加至3.9 kW时,火焰中心温度增幅为5.3%,同时氮氧化物排放量随之增大。内直径对上板面温度的提升作用在其值大于1.10 mm后开始显现,内直径的增加会明显提高氮氧化物的排放。因此在适当考虑烟气中氮氧化物排放的范围内,可提高灶具的热负荷和火孔内直径。在灶具热负荷较小时,孔隙率不可过大,但随着热负荷的增加,孔隙率可适当增大。鉴于板面厚度增加会明显增加达到稳态所需的时间,因此不宜采用过厚板面,以3.00~4.00 mm为宜。