Computational fluid dynamics simulation of formaldehyde emission characteristics and its experimental validation in environment chamber

We investigated the effect of supply air rate and temperature on formaldehyde emission characteristics in an environment chamber.A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD) chamber model for simulating formaldehyde emission in twelve different cases was developed for obtaining formaldehyde concentration by the area-weighted average method.Laboratory experiments were conducted in an environment chamber to validate the simulation results of twelve different cases and the formaldehyde concentration was measured by continuous sampling.The results show that there was good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental values within 4.3 difference for each case.The CFD simulation results varied in the range from 0.21 mg/m3 to 0.94 mg/m3,and the measuring results in the range from 0.17 mg/m3 to 0.87 mg/m3.The variation trend of formaldehyde concentration with supply air rate and temperature variation for CFD simulation and experiment measuring was consistent.With the existence of steady formaldehyde emission sources,formaldehyde concentration generally increased with the increase of temperature,and it decreased with the increase of air supply rate.We also provided some reasonable suggestions to reduce formaldehyde concentration and to improve indoor air quality for newly decorated rooms.

Soil-atmosphere interaction in earth structures

The soil-atmosphere interaction was investigated through laboratory testing,field monitoring and numerical monitoring.In the laboratory,the soil water evaporation mechanisms were studied using an environmental chamber equipped with a large number of sensors for controlling both the air parameters and soil parameters.Both sand and clay were considered.In case of sand,a dry layer could be formed during evaporation in the near surface zone where the suction corresponded to the residual volumetric water content.The evaporative surface was situated at a depth where the soil temperature was the lowest.In case of clay,soil cracking occurred,changing the evaporative surface from one-dimensional to three-dimensional nature.The suctionbased evaporation model was adapted to take these phenomena into account by adopting a function of dry layer evolution in the case of sand and by adopting a surface crack ratio and a retative humidity ratio in the case of clay.In the field,the volumetric water content,and the suction as well as the runoff were monitored for an embankment constructed with lime/cement treated soils.It appeared that using precipitation data only did not allow a correct description of the variations of volumetric water content and suction inside the soils,the consideration of water evaporation being essential.It was possible to use a correlation between precipiration and runoff.The hydraulic conductivity was found to be a key parameter controlling the variations of volumetric water content and suction.For the numerical modelling,a fully coupled thermohydraulic model was developed,allowing analyzing the changes in temperature,volumetric water content and suction of soil,with the upper boundary conditions at the interface between soil and atmosphere determined using meteorological data.Comparison between simulations and measurements showed the performance of such numerical approach.

Experimental Study on Purification Efficiency of Air Purifier for the Indoor Total Volatile Organic Compounds

By using total volatile organic compounds （TVOC） as the objective volatile pollutant, the purification efficiency of some representative air purifiers bought in the market was determined under the relatively independent and stable environmental conditions supplied by the self-made multi- functional environmental test chamber. Various evaluation parameters of TVOC were calculated based on the tested results, such as purification ef- ficiency and removal rate. The results showed that the TVOC purification efficiency increased with enhancing the temperature or lessening the rela- tive humidity, but this effect is not obvious. The air purifiers which use photocatalytic technology have higher TVOC purification efficiency than those which only use some adsorption technology. The purification efficiency and removal rate can be more accurate to evaluate the purification efficiency of air purifiers.

Measurement of thermal expansion coefficient of nonuniform temperature specimen

A new technique is developed to measure the longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient of C/C composite material at high temperature. The measuring principle and components of the apparatus are described in detail. The calculation method is derived from the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient. The apparatus mainly consists of a high temperature environmental chamber, a power circuit of heating, two high-speed pyrometers, and a laser scanning system. A long solid specimen is resistively heated to a steady high-temperature state by a steady electrical current. The temperature profile of the specimen surface is not uniform because of the thermal conduction and radiation. The temperature profile and the total expansion are measured with a high-speed scanning pyrometer and a laser slit scanning measuring system, respectively. The thermal expansion coefficient in a wide temperature range （1000 - 3800 K） of the specimen can therefore be obtained. The perfect consistency between the present and previous results justifies the validity of this technique.

Experimental study on electrical resistivity measurement of a specimen at high temperature

A new technique is developed to measure the electrical resistivity of conductor with a nonuniform tem- perature profile. The calculation method is derived from the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity. The apparatus consists mainly of a high temperature environmental chamber, a power circuit of heating, a twenty-wavelength pyrometer, and a scanning pyrometer. After getting the resistance from the voltage drop of the specimen, the electrical resistivity in a wide temperature range of the specimen can be obtained by our calculation model. Preliminary results of the electrical resistivity of SRM 8424 over a wide temperature range （1000-3000 K） are presented. The perfect consistency between the measurement results and the nominal values justifies the validity of this technique.

Effects of Preprocessing Method on TVOC Emission of Car Mat

The effects of the mat preprocessing method on total volatile organic compounds （TVOC） emission of car mat are studied in this paper. An appropriate TVOC emission period for car mat is suggested. The emission factors for to- tal volatile organic compounds from three kinds of new car mats are discussed. The car mats are preprocessed by washing, baking and ventilation. When car mats are preprocessed by washing, the TVOC emission for all samples tested are lower than that preprocessed in other methods. The TVOC emission is in stable situation for a mini- mum of 4 days. The TVOC emitted from some samples may exceed 25001ag/kg. But the TVOC emitted from washed Polyamide （PA） and wool mat is less than 25001ag/kg. The emission factors of total volatile organic com- pounds （TVOC） are experimentally investigated in the case of different preprocessing methods. The air tempera- ture in environment chamber and the water temperature for washing are important factors influencing on emission of car mats.