1 research outputs found
Standard Formaldehyde Source for Chamber Testing of Material Emissions: Model Development, Experimental Evaluation, and Impacts of Environmental Factors
Formaldehyde,
which is recognized as a harmful indoor air pollutant
for human health, is emitted mainly from urea-formaldehyde resin in
wood products. Chamber tests are used to evaluate formaldehyde emission
rates from these products. However, there is no available formaldehyde
standard reference emission source to assess the performance of chamber
testing systems. In this work, a LIFE (liquid-inner tube diffusion-film-emission)
formaldehyde reference is described. The formaldehyde source consists
of a polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE) tube that holds a formaldehyde–water
solution with a concentration of 16 g formaldehyde per 100 mL water, with a thin polydimethylsiloxane
(PDMS)
film cover. Formaldehyde emission parameters for the PDMS film (diffusion
coefficient and partition coefficient) were determined experimentally,
thereby enabling the prediction of the formaldehyde emissions from
the source for use as a reference value in a chamber. Chamber tests
were conducted in a 51 L stainless steel ventilated chamber. The impacts
of temperature and relative humidity on the emissions were investigated.
Results show the LIFE’s chamber test results match those predicted
by a mass transfer model. As a result, this formaldehyde source may
be used to generate a reference concentration in product emission
testing chambers, thereby providing a powerful tool to evaluate the
performance of the chamber testing systems