STUDY ON INDOOR VOCs CONCENTRATION REDUCTION PERFORMANCE OF THE ACTIVATED CARBON AND SORPTIVE BUILDING MATERIALS

Abstract

The concentration of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in rooms depends not only on emission and ventilation rates, but also on sorption by the room surfaces. The use of sorptive building materials on room surfaces seems effective for decreasing VOCs concentrations that have the possibility of affecting human health. In this study, we evaluated the effects of sorptive building materials with respect to decreasing toluene concentrations in air using a small test chamber. Air containing a low concentration of toluene was supplied, and the decrease in toluene concentration was measured at the exhaust. We examined how the toluene concentration, the air exchange rate of the chamber, the loading factor of the sorptive materials, and the convective mass transfer rate influenced the sorptive performance, which was well reproduced experimentally with the CFD simulations.