Predicting Gaseous Air Cleaner Performance in the Field

Published

September 4, 2005

Author(s)

Cynthia H. Reed, Steven J. Nabinger, Steven Emmerich

Abstract

As part of an ongoing effort to better understand the performance of indoor air cleaners in real buildings, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has completed a series of air cleaner field tests and model simulations. This paper focuses on experiments to measure the removal of decane with two different gaseous air cleaners in a test house. Due to the lack of gaseous air cleaner field testing protocols, a field test method was developed using semi-real-time measurements and mass balance analysis. To date, 24 experiments have been completed with single-pass removal efficiencies ranging from 30 % to 44 %. A full factorial analysis revealed that factors such as air cleaner location, status of the heating and air conditioning system, relative humidity and temperature significantly affect air cleaner performance. These results have been used to develop a regression model to predict air cleaner removal rates based on these factors, as well as to evaluate the predictive capability of the indoor air quality model CONTAM.

Citation

Indoor Air

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

field study, gaseous air cleaner, indoor air, model evaluation, VOC transport

Citation

Reed, C. , Nabinger, S. and Emmerich, S. (2005), Predicting Gaseous Air Cleaner Performance in the Field, Indoor Air, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860968 (Accessed May 9, 2025)