Indoor Air Quality Sensors
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AIVC 10985 Technical Ne. INDOOR AIR QUALITY SENSORS A. J. Martin W. B. Booth 1,200 ....----------------------------------� OCCUPANCY PERIOD " M . ' .. .. ... 1,100 - . , ' : �. :� . ; �: r,-. : : . ,,, ' . I f\I '.-. f ,, ,. ' .. � - l , . ... •. .. 000 .. ., ·-·· ,· . .. 1 . ··.,· .. ' . .. ' . i. 5 ... .. ... !!: , � .. � 900 ZS i . \. 800 .. � .. .. Uo ' I \ .-...,, . , ... , __ " 700 600 ._._...__.___._...__.___._ _.__.___. _...__.____,,_....__.___._...__.____,,_...__,_--L_.1.-_,_--1.----' 0 0. 59 U7 2.511 3.5'1 4 52 5.5 6.48 7.46 8.4 5 944. 10.4 3 11 42. 12.41 1341 14.4 15 16.39 17 38 18 38 1V.37 20.36 21 36 35 23 34 39 22 TIME ,I . I I Technical Note TN 1/96 INDOOR AIR QUALITY SENSORS A. J. Martin W. B. Booth The Building Services Research and Information Association Old Bracknell Lane West Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 ?AH Tel: +44 (0) 1344 426511 Fax: +44 (0) 1344 487575 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the publishers. ISBN 0 86022 432 5 Printed by Bourne Press Ltd ©BSRIA 77460 December 1996 Indoor Air Quality Sensors Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BSRIA would like to thank the following for their contribution to the research project: Department of the Environment The London Stock Exchange J Sainsbury Ove Arup Partnership Staefa Control System Vent-Axia EATe chnology CONSTRUCTION SP ONSOR SHI P DIRECTOR ATE Department of the Environment While every opp01tunity has been taken to incorporate the views of the sponsors, final editorial control of this document rests with BSRIA. ©BSRIA Technical Note 1/96 Indoor Air Quality Sensors Summary SUMMARY Demand controlled ventilation systems can be used to minimise energy consumption whilst maintaining satisfactory levels of indoor air quality (IAQ). As an alternative to C02 sensors, IAQ sensors (based on Taguchi mixed gas sensors) can be used to infer levels of IAQ. This Technical Note provides details of a series of laboratory and site tests to determine the performance of a range of IAQ sensors. As part of laboratory tests the IAQ sensors demonstrated relatively high correlation coefficients when tested against single pollutants; however, coefficients corresponding to test data over periods when the sensors were subj ected to non-controlled conditions (ie a wide range of non-controlled pollutants) demonstrated a poor relationship when there was no single predominant pollutant. Site monitoringin three buildings demonstrated relatively poor correlation coefficients between the IAQ sensors and monitored gases due to the unquantifiablepresence of other pollutants. The strongest correlations between IAQ sensors and pollutant gases were obtained when a pollutant gas was present in a sufficient concentration to pervade the complete' atmosphere of a zone. The site monitoring demonstrated that the dilution of pollutants in the indoor environment may be carried out at the expense of introducing polluted air from the outside. A major source of pollution to affect the monitored sites was fromvehicle traffic (indicated by levels of CO). The use of C02 controlled ventilation techniques is more effective than those using IAQ sensors in applications where IAQ is primarilyinfluenced by varying occupancy. ©BSRIA Technical Note 1/96 .. Indoor Air Quality Sensors Contents CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............ ........ ... ........ ......... ....... ..... ................. ................................... ..... 1 2. INDOOR AIR QUALITY SENSORS .......... .... ... ... ... .... ..... ....... ... .... ..... ........... 2 3. LABORATORY TESTS .. ... ...... ... ....... ..... ...... ...................... .. ... ..... .... ...... ...... .. ......... .... 3 3.1 SENSOR CHAMBER . .. ... .......... .. ... ... ...... .. ....... ... ........ ..... ... ...... ......... ... .. 3 3.2 MONITORING EQUIPMENT ........... .... ..... ... ... ......... ... ... .. ....... ... ..... .. .... 3 3 .3 SENSORS UNDER TEST . ..... .. ...... .... ................. ..... ..... .. ... .... .. .... ..... ..... ... 3 3.4 SENSOR TRIALS . .......... ..... .................... .. ....... ... ........... ...... .. ....... .. ...... ... .. .. 4 3.4.1 Methodology . ........ ..... .............. ....... ...... .... ........... ............... ...... ......... .... .... 4 3.4.2 Statistical Analysis ... ........ ....... ...... .. ..... .. ..... ..... .............. .... ....... .... 4 3.5 SENSOR TRIALS DATA ....... ......... .............. ......................... ........ ..... .. ... .... 6 3.6 FORTUITOUS DATA .... .... ......... ............... .......... .......... ........... ....... ....... .......... 10 3.7 POWER DOWN TESTS .......... ............. .. .... ... ................. .... .. ....... ... ....... ... ... 10 4. SITE MONITORING ...... .. .. ... .... .. .. ...... .......... ......... ........ ..... ..... .... ... ...... ... ......... 15 4. 1 INTRODUCTION . ... ..... .. .... ...... ..... ....... .. ... ...... ..... .. ... ..... .. ...... ... ...... .... ... 15 4.2 MONITORING AT A RETAIL STORE . .... ....... ....... ..... ..... ...... ... ......... .. ............ 15 4.2.1 Site description. ......... ... ...... .... ........ .. ..... ....... ... .... ......... ... ............. 15 4.2.2 Control strategy . ........... ............................ .. ..... ...... ..... ........ ..... ..... .... .. 15 4.2.3 Monito1ing strategy . .... ...... ........... ........ ... ..... ........ ..... ...... ... ...... ....... 17 4.2.4 Monitoring results . ... ......... ............. ... ....... .. ....... .. ......... .... ..... .. .. 18 4.2.5 Conclusions ........ .... ...... ..... ... ........ ........ ..... ............ .. .... .... ... ... ....... 24 4.3 MONITORING IN A PHOTOCOPY ROOM . ............. ......... ....... ....... ...... ... ...... .. 25 4.3.1 Site description.... .. ...... ...... ... ..... ..... ........... .......... .............................. 25 4.3.2 Monitoring equipment ... ........ ... .. ... .... .......... .. ...... .. ... .............. .. ......... 25 4.3.3 Monitoring results . ................ ... ... .. ... ................ ..... ... ...... ..... ... ...... .... 26 4.3.4 Conclusions . ... ......... ....... ....... ... ......... ...... ........ ..... ..... ............ ............. 29 4.4 MONITORING IN A NATURALLY VENTILATED OFFICE ..... ............. ... ..... 32 4.4.1 Site description and results ...... .......... ........... .... ............ ....... .......... .. .. 32 4.4.2 Conclusions . ... ..... ..... ..... .. ... ..... ......... .... .... ... ..... .......... ...... .. ....... .... 33 5. SENSOR DEVELOPMENTS .. ... ............. ... ... ... ......... .................. ............. ............... 35 6. CONCLUSIONS . ........ ... .... ... .... ........ ... ... ........ ... ....... ... ... ... ... ............ ......... ... ... 36 BSRIA .. Contents Indoor Air Quality Sensors LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Summary of results: sensor trials ............................................................................ 9 Table 3.2 Summary of results: general.. ... .... ...... .. ...................... .... .... ..... .. ......... ... ... ...... 13 Table 4.1 Food hall analysis .. ......... ......................... .. ... .. ....... .... ....................................... .. 21 Table 4.2 Textile area analysis.. .. ........ .... .......... ... .... ........... ..... ........... ......... ........ ....... .. 21 Table 4.3 Sensor output signal correlation with gas concentration ........... ... .. .................. .. .. 31 Table 4.4 Air quality sensor correlation with TOC concentration ....... ... .... ......... ................ 31 Table 4.5 Sensor correlation with TOC (relative to Hexane) concentration . ... ...... .... ....... ..... 32 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Dependence on hexane levels ............................................................................. 7 Figure 3.2 Dependence on octane levels .............................................................................. 8 Figure 3.3 Dependence on CO levels ............ .... ..... ..... ........ ....... .. ............. .... .. ...... 11 Figure 3.4 Dependence on formaldehyde levels ..... .... .. ............. ......... ... ... .... ........ ........ .. .. 12 Figure 4.1 Retail store AHUs ................. ....... ... ............. ............. .. ... ........... .... ......... l6 Figure 4.2 Store air system schematic ................................................................................ 17 Figure 4.3 Carbon monoxide levels ................................................................................... 19 Figure 4.4 Carbon dioxide and occupancy ......................................................................... 19 Figure 4.5 Staefa data AHUl (Fri 7/10/94) . ...... ....... .... ................... .......... .. ... ........ ......... 22 Figure 4.6 Staefa data AHU2 (Fri 7/10/94) ............................. .......................................... 22 Figure 4.7 TOCs relative to hexane (mg/m3). ..................................................................... 23 Figure 4.8 Carbon monoxide .................................... ......................................................... 23 Figure 4.9 Carbon Dioxide in mg/m3 (Fri 7/ 10/94) .................. ........................................... 24 Figure 4.10 Photocopy room layout ............................................................................ ........ 25 Figure