Physically Based Modelling of the Material and Gaseous Contaminant Interactions in Buildings: Models, Experimental Data and Future Developments

Abstract

Although potentially having a significant influence on indoor air quality (IAQ), interactions between building materials and gaseous contaminants have often been neglected or crudely modelled in IAQ simulation tools. During the past 20 years, empirical source and sink models have progressively given way to physically based models; but confusion still remains on their applicability, as well as on the adequate experimental data to input for the model parameters. Thus, demonstration is first made that models relating macroscopically the room air phase and material concentrations through adsorption and desorption constants are not scientifically sound. Instead, elemental models combining diffusion equations and local sorption equilibria should be used. The compilation of sorption and diffusion data presented in the second part of this chapter underlines the fact that such data cannot be considered independently from the mass transport equations used to fit the measurements. As a result, a thorough analysis of diffusion processes in polymers and porous media is presented in order to define and relate the diffusion coefficients. Finally, the last part of the chapter discusses the way in which existing models could be extended to account for the contributions of temperature, multi-component mixtures, humidity and chemical transformations within materials. Still based on fundamental considerations, the proposed methodology consists of implementing new functionalities to describe the temperature dependence of the model parameters, elemental models representing the interactions between gaseous contaminants and water, as well as kinetic models coming from the fields of atmospheric and surface sciences.