Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building

Abstract Landscape fires in Indonesia and traffic pollution have been receiving increasing attention as sources of particulate matter (PM) in Singapore. Although mitigation measures to reduce PM levels using portable air cleaners (PACs) have been used in residential buildings, its application for of...

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Main Authors: Zuraimi Sultan, Jiayu Li, Jovan Pantelic, Stefano Schiavon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2022-07-01
Series:Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.220204
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author Zuraimi Sultan
Jiayu Li
Jovan Pantelic
Stefano Schiavon
author_facet Zuraimi Sultan
Jiayu Li
Jovan Pantelic
Stefano Schiavon
author_sort Zuraimi Sultan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Landscape fires in Indonesia and traffic pollution have been receiving increasing attention as sources of particulate matter (PM) in Singapore. Although mitigation measures to reduce PM levels using portable air cleaners (PACs) have been used in residential buildings, its application for office buildings is unknown. Using PAC, we demonstrated their potential for indoor particles removal in an office building and presented a method to evaluate their performance and estimate number of units to be deployed. Modelled and in-situ measured PAC effectiveness using up to twelve units was evaluated in three office sizes (30, 80 and 1490 m3). Measured effectiveness using indoor concentrations and indoor/outdoor ratios was obtained in a randomised intervention experimental design involving 3 weeks per location. Indoor particle concentration reductions in the three offices were dependent on particle size and confounded by variations in indoor emissions and outdoor levels resulting in low correlation and higher RMSE between modelled and measured effectiveness. PAC effectiveness computed using I/O ratios for removing UFP, PM2.5 and PM10 ranged 24–43%, 23–53% and 7–37% respectively. PAC has a higher in-situ effectiveness in small compared to larger spaces and the effectiveness is logarithmically dependent on the number of units deployed. We validated the use of our model to determine PAC effectiveness in the offices using up to eleven PACs (RMSE between modelled and measured data ranging from 3.9 to 6.6%). Lastly, we developed a design method to size the number of PAC needed for office buildings. The results from this study can be used for standards organization, policy makers and researchers interested in particle exposure reductions in large spaces.
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spelling doaj-art-a25158f930754f7fb3be20ed5448ea952025-02-09T12:18:08ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092022-07-01221011710.4209/aaqr.220204Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office BuildingZuraimi Sultan0Jiayu Li1Jovan Pantelic2Stefano Schiavon3Environmental Health Institute, National Environment AgencyBerkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS) LimitedKatholieke Universiteit LeuvenBerkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS) LimitedAbstract Landscape fires in Indonesia and traffic pollution have been receiving increasing attention as sources of particulate matter (PM) in Singapore. Although mitigation measures to reduce PM levels using portable air cleaners (PACs) have been used in residential buildings, its application for office buildings is unknown. Using PAC, we demonstrated their potential for indoor particles removal in an office building and presented a method to evaluate their performance and estimate number of units to be deployed. Modelled and in-situ measured PAC effectiveness using up to twelve units was evaluated in three office sizes (30, 80 and 1490 m3). Measured effectiveness using indoor concentrations and indoor/outdoor ratios was obtained in a randomised intervention experimental design involving 3 weeks per location. Indoor particle concentration reductions in the three offices were dependent on particle size and confounded by variations in indoor emissions and outdoor levels resulting in low correlation and higher RMSE between modelled and measured effectiveness. PAC effectiveness computed using I/O ratios for removing UFP, PM2.5 and PM10 ranged 24–43%, 23–53% and 7–37% respectively. PAC has a higher in-situ effectiveness in small compared to larger spaces and the effectiveness is logarithmically dependent on the number of units deployed. We validated the use of our model to determine PAC effectiveness in the offices using up to eleven PACs (RMSE between modelled and measured data ranging from 3.9 to 6.6%). Lastly, we developed a design method to size the number of PAC needed for office buildings. The results from this study can be used for standards organization, policy makers and researchers interested in particle exposure reductions in large spaces.https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.220204Air pollutionIndoor particlesPortable air cleanersOffice buildings
spellingShingle Zuraimi Sultan
Jiayu Li
Jovan Pantelic
Stefano Schiavon
Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Air pollution
Indoor particles
Portable air cleaners
Office buildings
title Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
title_full Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
title_fullStr Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
title_full_unstemmed Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
title_short Indoor Air Pollution of Outdoor Origin: Mitigation Using Portable Air Cleaners in Singapore Office Building
title_sort indoor air pollution of outdoor origin mitigation using portable air cleaners in singapore office building
topic Air pollution
Indoor particles
Portable air cleaners
Office buildings
url https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.220204
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AT jiayuli indoorairpollutionofoutdoororiginmitigationusingportableaircleanersinsingaporeofficebuilding
AT jovanpantelic indoorairpollutionofoutdoororiginmitigationusingportableaircleanersinsingaporeofficebuilding
AT stefanoschiavon indoorairpollutionofoutdoororiginmitigationusingportableaircleanersinsingaporeofficebuilding