Identification, classification, and correlation of ultrafine indoor airborne particulate matter with outdoor values.doc

IDENTIFICATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND CORRELATION OF ULTRAFINE INDOOR AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER WITH OUTDOOR VALUESByNick Allan FacciolaB.S., Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, 2004A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofMaster of ScienceDepartment of Mechanical Engineering2006This thesis entitled:Identification, Classification, and Correlation of Ultrafine Indoor Airborne Particulate Matter with Outdoor Valueswritten by Nick Allan Facciolahas been approved for the Department of Mechanical Engineering_Dr. Shelly L. Miller_Dr. John Zhai_Dr. Darin Toohey Date _The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet the accepted presentation standards of scholarly work in the above-mentioned discipline.ABSTRACTFacciola, Nick AllanMaster or Science, Department of Mechanical EngineeringIdentification, Classification, and Correlation of Ultrafine Indoor Airborne Particulate Matter with Outdoor ValuesThesis directed by Professor Shelly L. MillerMany studies report that adverse health effects are most strongly correlated with fine particulate matter (< 2.5 micron in diameter), originating from ambient emissions mainly derived from fossil fuel combustion. This study examines the infiltration of ultrafine (< 0.1 micron) and fine particulate matter into indoor environments including typical office space as well as elementary schools. With the use of an Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer and an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer, the size and chemical speciation of ultrafine and fine particulate matter can be found, providing data that can be used to compare and correlate indoor and outdoor particulate matter concentrations. First and foremost, this study provides important data needed to understand exposure and health risks associated with inhalation of fine particulate matter. In addition, the information provided by this study can improve understanding of filtration requirements in mechanically ventilated buildings. The correlation of indoor to outdoor particulate concentrations can be used to evaluate the performance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in conditioning the outside air make up as well as re-circulated air.DEDICATIONThis thesis is dedicated to my mother and my father. They gave me the encouragement I needed to continue on to graduate school and expand my horizon of possibilities.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFirst and foremost, I would like to express a sincere gratitude to Professor Shelly Miller for her huge support and assistance throughout the entire length of this study. Secondly, I thank Professor John Zhai for his guidance and assistance on this project. I thank the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for supporting and funding this project. I express gratitude to the students who helped with the test setup and acquirement of data for this project: Joshua Droege, Iain Elliott and Nick Ortiz. I am extremely grateful to Professor Darin Toohey for all the time he volunteered to help make this project happen as well as providing most of the experimental instrumentation. I would like to acknowledge both Denver Public Schools and the Boulder Valley Public School District for finding appropriate school buildings for the tests to take place in, particularly directors Dale Hobbs and Morgan R. Deane, Jr. for giving the initial consent. I thank Bruce Gandrud and Kurt Sendelweck at Particle Metrics, Inc. for all the time they took to keep the testing instrumentation running in great condition and ready to use on our schedule. Finally, a warm thanks to all the facilities managers, building managers, and those who worked inside the test locations who allowed us to carry out so many days of testing in their buildings.TABLE OF CONTENTSSignatoriesiiAbstractiiiDedicationivAcknowledgmentsvContentsviList of TablesixList of FiguresxChapter I: Introduction1Background1Objective4Chapter II: Methods6Instrument Description6Aerosol Mass Spectrometer6Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer8Li-Cor CO2/ H2O Analyzer9Testing Sites10Denver School of the Arts11Grant Street Building18Eisenhower Elementary School25Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory33Experimental Setup40Primary Data Collection40Secondary Data Collection44Chapter III: Results and Discussion48Building Characteristics48Instrument Characteristics49Line Losses51Weather54Types of Data Collected57Identification and Classification63General Trends64Seasonal, Weekly, and Daily Trends77Correlations83Lag Times85Linear-Fit Slopes92Ammonium Nitrate Infiltration97Chapter IV: Conclusions and Further Research104Conclusions104Recommendations for Further Research108References110Appendix A: Testing Site Floor Plans113Appendix B: Outdoor Hour-Averaged AMS Chemical Data Plots121Appendix C: Indoor and Outdoor UHSAS Mass Concentrations Plots125Appendix D: Indoor and Outdoor UHSAS Number Concentration Plots133Appendix E: Indoor and Outdoor PM0.7 Number Plots141Appendix F: Indoor and Outdoor CO2 Plots146Appendix G: Lag Time and Variability Tables152Appendix H: Indoor/Outdoor Ratio and Correlation Slope Tables156LIST OF TABLESNumberPage1. Summary of HVAC system in each building.392. Summary of filters used in each building.393. Summary of testing dates.444. Summary of air exchange rates.495. Seasonal average temperatures (°F) at each building. Standard deviations given in parenthesis.546. Seasonal average PM2.5 values (g/m3) at each building. Standard deviations given in parenthesis.54LIST OF FIGURESNumberPage1. Predicted total respiratory deposition based on ICRP deposition model.22. Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS).73. Particle Metrics Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS).94. Li-Cor CO2 / H2O Analyzer.105. Denver School of the Arts, Denver CO.116. Map to Denver School of the Arts.127. Hallway near sampling location at Denver School of the Arts.138. Eastern end of hallway and sampling location at Denver School of the Arts.149. Floor plans of sampling area at Denver School of the Arts. Sample locations denoted by Xs.1510. Science room at Denver School of the Arts.1611. Science room and sampling location at Denver School of the Arts.1612. Outside sample location at Denver School of the Arts.1713. 1640 Grant Street, Denver CO.1814. Map to 1640 Grant Street.1915. Third floor office space and sampling locations at the Grant Street building.2116. Third floor sampling location and window location at the Grant Street building.2117. Floor plans of third floor in the Grant Street building. Sampling locations (new on left, and old on bottom) denoted by Xs.2218. Copy room/ mailroom and outdoor location at the Grant Street building.2319. Outside location at the Grant Street building.2320. Air intake and exhaust at the Grant Street building.2421. Eisenhower Elementary School, Boulder CO.2522. Map to Eisenhower Elementary School.2623. Music room at Eisenhower Elementary School.2724. Teachers lounge at Eisenhower Elementary School.2725. Sampling location in the music room at Eisenhower Elementary.2826. Sampling location in the teachers lounge at Eisenhower Elementary.2927. Outside sampling location at Eisenhower Elementary School.3028. Floor plans at Eisenhower Elementary School. Sample locations denoted by Xs.3129. HVAC rooms and air intakes at Eisenhower Elementary School.3230. Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, Boulder CO.3331. Map to Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory at CU.3432. Inside sampling locations at the ITL Laboratory.3533. Stairwell sampling location at the ITL Laboratory.3634. Floor plans and indoor sampling locations at the ITL Laboratory.3735. Schematic of Experimental Setup.4136. Testing setup showing all instruments and solenoid switching valves.4237. Calibration equipment for the AMS, used to generate size-selected monodisperse aerosols.4338. Screenshot of CO2 Analyzer.4539. Air exchange rate plot for Eisenhower Elementary School at night.4840. Differences in apparent diameters between AMS, UHSAS and DMA.5041. Theoretical particle losses due to deposition for steady, laminar flow through 50-ft of tubing.5142. Average number concentrations during line loss experiment.5243. Line losses and standard deviations through sample tube configuration.5344. Comparison of obtained UHSAS PM0.7 to CDPHE PM2.5 mass concentrations for Eisenhower Elementary School.5645. Comparison of obtained UHSAS PM0.7 and AMS PM2.0 to CDPHE PM2.5 mass concentrations for the ITL Laboratory.5646. Comparison of obtained UHSAS PM0.7 to CDPHE PM2.5 mass concentrations for the Grant Street building.5747. Comparison of obtained UHSAS PM0.7 and AMS PM2.0 and CDPHE PM2.5 mass concentrations for Denver School of the Arts.5748. UHSAS indoor (top) and outdoor (bottom) number concentrations as a function of time and particle diameter at the ITL Laboratory during spring 2006.5949. UHSAS indoor (top) and outdoor (bottom) mass concentration as a function of time and particle diameter at the ITL Laboratory during spring 2006.6050. AMS outdoor mass concentration as a function of time and particle diameter at the ITL Laboratory during spring 2006.6151. AMS outdoor mass concentration as a function of time at the ITL Laboratory during spring 2006.6152. Hour-Averaged AMS outdoor mass concentration as a function of time at the ITL Laboratory during spring 2006.6253. Averaged diameter at the ITL Laboratory in spring 2006 for AMS (left) and UHSAS (right).6354. Averaged number concentrations for the entire sampling year, as a function of optical diameter (from UHSAS data).6455. Averaged mass concentrations and indoor/outdoor ratio for the entire sampling year, as a function of optical diameter (from UHSAS data).6556. Filter efficiency for individual single-fiber mechanisms and total efficiency.6657. Averaged mass concentration distributions and indoor/outdoor ratios for the entire sampling year at the ITL Laboratory (left) and the Grant building (right).6758. Averaged number concentrations and indoor/outdoor ratios in Boulder and Denver.6859. Number concentrations at the Grant Street building in the spring.6860. CO2 versus scheduled occupancy for the ITL Laboratory during the fall season.6961. Indoor/outdoor ratio increasing with fresh air intake percentage.7062. Indoor/outdoor ratios by mass and number, as a function of fresh air intake for Denver School of the Arts.7163. Indoor/outdoor ratios by mass and number, as a function of fresh air intake for the ITL Laboratory.7164. Indoor/outdoor ratios by mass and number, as a function of fresh air intake for the Grant Street building.7265. Indoor/outdoor ratios by mass and number, as a function of fresh air intake for Eisenhower Elementary School.7266. Indoor/outdoor mass ratio as a function of wind speed for all data.7367. Indoor/outdoor number ratio as a function of wind speed for all data.7468. Indoor/outdoor mass ratio as a function of wind speed for Denver School of the Arts only.7469. Indoor/outdoor mass ratio as a function of wind speed for the summer only.7570. Indoor/outdoor ratio as a function of outdoor concentration for all data.7671. Indoor number concentration as a function of excess indoor carbon dioxide for all data.7672. Indoor/outdoor ratio as a function of excess indoor carbon dioxide for all data.7773. Ambient PM number distributions (top) and indoor/outdoor ratios (bottom) averaged by season.7874. Ambient PM mass distribution averaged over each season.7975. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all datasets, split by period of week.8076. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all DSA datasets, split by period of the week.8177. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all Grant Street building datasets, split by period of the week.8178. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all Eisenhower Elementary datasets, split by period of the week.8279. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all ITL Laboratory datasets, split by period of the week.8280. Indoor/outdoor ratios averaged over all ITL Laboratory datasets, separated by HVAC usage.8381. Indoor-outdoor ultrafine number correlation for weekday Grant building data in the fall.8582. Time series autocorrelation plot for the ITL Laboratory during spring.8683. Ultrafine indoor-outdoor number concentration correlations without lag time shift (left) and with 36-minute lag time shift (right) for winter Grant Street building data.8784. Average lag times.8885. Average constancy of the lag times.8986. Lag times at the ITL Laboratory by HVAC usage.9087. Variability in lag times at the ITL Laboratory by HVAC usage.9088. Average lag times at each building during the weekday daytime.9189. Average lag times at each building during the weekend nighttime.9190. Correlation slopes of entire sample year by period of week.9291. Correlation slopes of every buildings weekday daytime data combined, separated by season.9392. Correlation slopes of each buildings weekday daytime fine PM data per season.9493. Correlation slopes for ITL Laboratory only, as a function of HVAC usage.9494. Indoor/outdoor ratios for the ITL Laboratory, as a function of HVAC usage.9595. Pearsons correlation coefficients averaged by period of the week.9696. Pearsons correlation coefficients for the ITL Laboratory as a function of HVAC usage.9797. Ambient chemical makeup for Denver School of the Arts in the winter.9898. Indoor-outdoor fine PM correlation difference for a high ammonium nitrate event at Denver School of the Arts in the winter.9999. Indoor-outdoor ultrafine PM correlation difference for a high ammonium nitrate event at Denver School of the Arts in the winter.100100. Average AMS size distribution for Denver School of the Arts in the winter.100101. Indoor-outdoor ultrafine PM correlation difference for a high ammonium nitrate event at Denver School of the Arts in the fall.101102. Indoor-outdoor fine PM correlation difference for a high ammonium nitrate event at the ITL Laboratory in the spring.102103. Indoor-outdoor ultrafine PM correlation difference