Simulation Study of Carbon Monoxide Exposure from Portable Generators in U.S. Residences

Abstract

A simulation study was conducted to evaluate indoor CO exposures as a function of portable generator location and CO emission rate in order to support the development of potential CO emission limits for generators. These simulations employed the multizone airflow and contaminant transport model CONTAM, which was applied to 87 dwellings that are representative of the U.S. housing stock. About one-hundred thousand 24-hour simulations were conducted over a range of generator locations, CO source strengths and weather conditions. This report presents the results in terms of the maximum levels of percent carboxyhemoglobin for individuals located in the occupied portions of the dwellings as a function of CO emission rate. Considering cases in which the generator operates continuously for 18 hours, the maximum source strength for which 80 % of the simulated cases are below 30 % maxCOHb is 27 g/h.