UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE INDOOR AIR
CONTAMINANTS ON THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM
AT THE UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
(UTeM) MAIN LIBRARY
This report submitted in accordance with requirement of the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) for the Bachelor Degree of Engineering Technology
(Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning System) (Hons.)
by
AZRINSHAH BIN ABU BAKAR B071110215
UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS LAPORAN PROJEK SARJANA MUDA
TAJUK: Environmental Assessment of the Indoor Air Contaminants on the Air Conditioning System at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) Main Library
SESI PENGAJIAN: 2014/15 Semester 1
Saya AZRINSHAH BIN ABU BAKAR
mengaku membenarkan Laporan PSM ini disimpan di Perpustakaan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut: 1. Laporan PSM adalah hak milik Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka dan penulis. 2. Perpustakaan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka dibenarkan membuat salinan
untuk tujuan pengajian sahaja dengan izin penulis.
3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan laporan PSM ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi pengajian tinggi.
4. **Sila tandakan ( )
TERHAD SULIT
TIDAK TERHAD
(Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia sebagaimana yang termaktub dalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972)
(Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan)
Alamat Tetap:
No. 407, Blok 3, Jalan 17/24, Seksyen 17, Shah Alam, 40200, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tarikh: ________________________
Disahkan oleh:
Cop Rasmi:
Tarikh: _______________________
DECLARATION
I hereby, declaredthis report entitled “Environmental Assessment of the Indoor Air Contaminants on the Air Conditioning System at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) Main Library” is the results of my own research except as cited in
references.
Signature : ……….
Author’s Name : ……….
APPROVAL
This report is submitted to the Faculty of Engineering Technology of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Technology (Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Systems) (Hons.). The member of the supervisory is as follow:
………
ABSTRAK
Kualiti Udara Dalaman (KUD) dan kesan buruknya pada kesihatan, keselesaan dan
ABSTRACT
Indoor air quality (IAQ) and its bad effects to health, comfort and production of the occupants is a topic that has increasing interest in the past years. In some developing
DEDICATION
I dedicate my disquisition work to my family and many friends. A feeling of humble and gratitude to my loving parents, Abu Bakar Bin Jasa and Raishah Binti Mokhtar whose words of encouragement and push for tenacity ring in my ears. My brothers Barshah Bin Abu Bakar and Banny Bin Abu Bakar have never left my side and are
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to thank my faculty members who were more than generous with their expertise and precious time. A special thanks to Mr. Azwan Bin Aziz, my supervisor
for his countless hours of reflecting, reading, encouraging, teaching, and most of all patience throughout the entire process. Thank you to my bachelor degree project
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstrak i
Abstract ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of Content v
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
List Abbreviations, Symbols and Nomenclatures xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 Objectives of the Study 3
1.4 Work Scope of the Study 4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Indoor Air Quality and Indoor Air Contaminants 5 2.2.1 Factors Affecting IAQ in Building 6 2.2.2 Effects of Poor IAQ in a Building 8 2.3 The Relationship between IAQ and Air-Conditioning System
in a Building 11
2.4 The Limitations from the Past Studies 13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18
3.1 Introduction 18
3.2 Selection of Building 18
3.3 Qualittative Inspection: Literature Review 19 3.4 Quantitative Inspection: Field Measurement 19
3.4.1 Specific Physical Parameters 20
3.4.2 Indoor Air Contaminants 21
3.5 Correlations 22
3.6 Data management 22
CHAPTER 4: RESULT & DISCUSSION 23
4.1 Introduction 23
4.2 Specific Physical Parameter Results 23
4.2.1 Air Movement 25
4.2.2 Air Temperature 26
4.2.3 Relative Humidity 27
4.2.4 Discussions on the Specific Parameter Results 28
4.3 Indoor Air Contaminants Results 29
4.3.1 Dust Level (Particulates Matter 2.5) 30 4.3.2 Carbon Dioxide Concentrations 31 4.3.3 Discussions on the Indoor Air Contaminants Results 32
4.4 Air Flow Rate from Diffuser Results 33
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION & FUTURE WORK 45
5.1 Introduction 45
5.2 Summary of the Research 45
5.2.1 Objective of the Research 45
5.2.2 Research Methodology 46
5.2.3 Results 46
5.3 Conclusion 47
5.4 Recommendations 48
REFERENCES 49
APPENDICES 54
A Figure of Floor Plan and Work Space 54
B Figure of Field Measurement 60
C Data for Specific Parameter Results 62
D Data for Indoor Air Contaminants Results 64
LIST OF TABLES
3.1 Details for the selected building 19
3.2 Acceptable range for specific physical parameters ICOP IAQ
(2004) and ASHRAE (2004) 20
3.3 List of indoor air contaminants and the acceptable limits ICOP
IAQ (2010) and ASHRAE (2004) 20
3.4 Recommended minimum number of sampling points for indoor
air quality assessment (ICOP IAQ 2010) 21
3.5 List of instruments 21
4.1 Specific physical parameters results for all levels 24 4.2 Comparison between specific physical parameters results with
ICOP and ASHRAE standard for all levels 24 4.3 Indoor Air Contaminants results for all levels 29 4.4 Comparison between Indoor Air Contaminants results with ICOP
and ASHRAE standard for all levels 30
LIST OF FIGURES
4.1 Graph of Air Movement against Time for eight hours in every
level 25
4.2 Graph of Air Temperature against Time for eight hours in every
level 26
4.3 Graph of Relative Humidity against Time for eight hours in every
level 27
4.4 Graph of Dust Level against Time for eight hours in every level 30
4.5 Graph of Carbon Dioxide Level against Time for eight hours in
every level 31
4.6 Scatterplot of dust level against diffuser air flow rate 34 4.7 Scatterplot of concentration of carbon dioxide against diffuser air
flow rate 35
4.8 Scatterplot of air movement against diffuser air flow rate 36 4.9 Scatterplot of air temperature against diffuser air flow rate 37 4.10 Scatterplot of relative humidity against diffuser air flow rate 38 4.11 Scatterplot of dust level against temperature 39 4.12 Scatterplot of concentration of carbon dioxide against air
temperature 40
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SYMBOLS AND
NOMENCLATURE
AC - Air Conditioning ANOVA - Analysis of Variance
ASHRAE - American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
BRI - Building Related Illness
CO - Carbon Monoxide
CO2 - Carbon Dioxide
ETS - Environmental Tobacco Smoke
F - F-test
HVAC - Heating, Ventilating and Air-conditioning IAC - Indoor Air Contaminants
IAP - Indoor Air Pollution ICOP - Industrial Code of Practice lAQ - Indoor Air Quality
M - Mean
MVAC - Mechanical Ventilating and Air-Conditioning
N - Number of sample
PM - Particulate Matter
RH - Relative Humidity SBS - Sick Building Syndrome SD - Standard Deviations
SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences TVOC - Total Volatile Organic Compound
1.1 Background of the Study
In recent years, the significance of indoor climate for health and comfort has been emphasized. According to Bronsema et al. (2004), studies have found that 90% of a normal human's time is being spent staying indoors. The ASHRAE (2011) has stated that the indoor air concentrations of pollutant that are listed to affect the comfort, environmental satisfaction, health, or work or school performance of a human is represented by the term indoor air quality (IAQ). The ASHRAE (2009) in their handbook also stated that even though the importance of IAQ is recognized by the
building owners and building professionals, they tend to ignore it in their routine mostly because of budget constrict. As a result, the building occupants will be exposed to numerous forms of indoor air pollution (IAP) and also their comfort will be affected.
A growing body of scientific evidence has stated that there are more pollution in the air within buildings compared to the outdoor air in recent years. This showed that humans have higher risk to be exposed to pollution indoors than outdoors. There are varieties of pollution indoors compared to outdoors. There are varieties of pollutants that can be found inside our buildings which can be separated into two groups, biological and chemical. Biologic pollutants can include bacteria, molds, viruses, animal dander, cat saliva, dust mites, cockroaches, and much more. Some serious
According to International Code of Practice, ICOP (2010), IAQ is closely related with the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that is used in the
building. This means that some of the pollutants that can levels that can be found inside a building can be related to the HVAC system used in the building. A HVAC system is a mechanical system may turn faulty or inadequate. In a research paper by Karina and Maria (2010), it has been stated that to ensure the adequate dilution of contaminants generated in the building, ventilation is necessary. In another research by Syazwan et al., (2009), also indicates a relationship of IAQ and ventilation which is an increase in ventilation will reduce the prevalence of sick building syndrome which is caused by poor IAQ. In order to keep the environmental quality at the desirable level, maintenance of the HVAC system is need according to Sulaiman. et al., (2013).
Thus, in this research, the indoor air contaminants status on air conditioning system of a building will be determined and assessed. The parameters of the IAQ which is indoor air temperature, the percentages of relative humidity (%RH), the air velocity, level of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5) will be measured for a specific
time. The level will be compared with the standard level set by ICOP IAQ 2010.
1.2 Problem Statement
According to ASHRAE 2009, indoor environment health includes those factors of human health and diseases that are affected by the aspects in the indoor environment.
As we know, buildings nowadays mostly use air-conditioning system to provide comfort to the occupants especially in Malaysia which is a country with a climate categorized as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout the year. Past studies indicates that IAQ is related with the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning system (HVAC) used in a building (Karina and Maria 2010, Syazwan et al., 2009, Sulaiman et al., 2013, ICOP 2010). Thus in Malaysia, we need to study the indoor air quality
status on the air-conditioning systems used in the building to ensure that the air produced by the air conditioning system is adequate and safe to the occupants.
In Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), it is known that the Main Library that is located at the Main Campus never been assessed of its indoor air contaminants status. Note that it has been several years since it is built. Although the quality of air produced by an adequate air conditioning system is always acceptable, there are some factors which will affect the quality of air produced through years of time. According to Sulaiman et al., 2013, it has been concluded that the building's environment quality will be affected by poor maintenance and it will result to bad productivity and health of the facility management. Thus, it is better to study the status of indoor air contaminants on air conditioning system at UTeM's Main Library so that the status will be known and further actions can be taken if there's any problems indicated.
1.3 Objectives of The Study
Main Objective:
Specific Objectives:
1. To measure the parameters of IAQ which is indoor air temperature, the percentages of relative humidity (%RH), the air velocity, level of Carbon Monoxide (CO), level of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Total Volatile Organic
Compounds (TVOCs), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5 up to PM10) in Main
Library of UTeM.
2. To determine the source of the factors that influence the IAC and IAP in Main Library of UTeM.
3. To compare the data collected with International Code Of Practice (ICOP) standard to analyze the status of IAC and IAQ of air conditioning system in Main Library of UTeM.
4. To associate the relationship between IAC and air conditioning system.
1.4 Work Scope of The Study
In this research, a cohort study was carried out at UTeM’s Main Library from September 2014 to October 2014. A total of seven sections of the Main Library will be assessed by the researcher on environmental aspects of IAC in AC system. The focus will be mainly on collecting data related to IAC and IAQ which is indoor air temperature, %RH, air velocity, CO2, and particulates matter (PM2.5) presented in the
2.1 Introduction
In the literature review, the author have found a good representative literature discussing the effects of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor air contaminants (IAC) with their relationship with the air conditioning system used in a building. However, there was less study in detail about the relationship of the materials used for the construction of the building or air conditioning system with the level of IAQ. The author is grateful to some authors (Sulaiman and Mohamed 2011, Yang 2012, ASHRAE 2009, Yau et al., 2012, Wang and Zhang 2010, ICOP 2010) who identified
some of the factors that have affected the levels of IAQ in a building, although their discussions outline funding as a major factor in this progress as opposed to good IAQ, effective ventilations and adequate filtrations. By studying the relevant literature, it
will help the author understand more fully how other factors play a big role in indoor air quality (IAQ) in buildings.
2.2 Indoor Air Quality and Indoor Air Contaminants
In these past years, the study of indoor air quality (IAQ) and its fundamentals has gained high popularity. But, not everyone knows what IAQ is especially here in
conditions is a result from gases, microbial contaminants or particulates which is a factor of the IAQ level. From here, we knew that IAQ represent the condition of a
building which indicates either it is healthy or not. According to ASHRAE (2009), by implementing air in occupied spaces with a concentrations that is not at a harmful level and no conditions that can affect the occupant's health and comfort and gives dissatisfaction, we can gain good IAQ. Both indoor air pollution levels and thermal environmental parameters should be included in the considerations.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is said to be effected by indoor air environment (IAE) which mainly established by the thermal environment, wet environment and air quality (Yang 2012). Thus, to study more on IAQ and its factors and effects, we also should study on indoor air environment. ASHRAE (2009) indicates that those aspects of human health and diseases that are resulted by causes in the IAE is included in indoor environmental health. Occupational health which relates to workplace airborne contaminants is the area which is defined clearly of indoor environmental health. In the IAE, contaminants that is observed giving problems comprise allergens, tobacco smoke, radon, and formaldehyde. Even though air is composed mainly of gases, air contaminants can be divided into two class which is either particles or gases.
2.2.1 Factors affecting IAQ in a building
There are many factors that affect IAQ in a building. According to ASHRAE (2009), air borne contaminants which can affect the level of IAQ may be transported from the outdoor or discharged indoors by many factors. Based on Industry Code of Practice on
Indoor Air Quality, (ICOP IAQ) 2010, there are six sources of poor IAQ in a building listed which are the occupant of the building, inadequate materials used for the construction of the building, the activities performed in the building, high and
inadequate use of normal products, combustion gases, and poor ventilation.
Mohamed and Sulaiman (2011), in dust particulates or humid environment which consist of human skin flakes and other dead or decaying biological materials, it is
typically found the nutrients which are need by the microbes to grow. Thus, both of carbon dioxide and human VOCs are pollutants which influence the level of IAQ of a building (Wang and Zhang 2010). Also, in a study by Karina and Maria (2010), they have proved that the present of occupants in air conditioned indoor environment had significant impact on the temperature inside a room. Which as stated earlier, temperature is one of the factor which includes in IAQ factor as it can be related with affecting discomfort as it is too high or low. This is also supported from a study by Jang Yeul and Wan Je (2009) that the duration of a building's occupancy affect the concentrations of the IAQ pollutants most.
Besides the occupants themselves influenced the level of IAQ in a building, the activities done in a building also contributes as an IAQ factor. There are many activities that we did in a buildings which affects the IAQ level. For an example when we clean our carpet, we might as released the dust particles which is a pollutant into the air thus it affect our comfort and health which directly affect the IAQ in the building. This theory is supported by Marzuki et al., (2010) that in their research, they have concluded that one of the important factor that influence the indoor concentrations pollutants is the surrounding human activities. Although some of our activities with the objective of making indoor environment healthier, often they also decreases our air quality. For an example, carbon monoxide particles and dust is
emitted into the air as we used gas burner for cooking or lighting a fireplace. (Sunyoung et al., 2013, Duflo et al. 2008). This is also proved by a research by Isabelle et al. (2000), which concluded there are many complex mixtures of gases and particles
that are emitted by combustion that contaminated indoor and outdoor air.
to dilute the pollutants or to carry the pollutant out of the building, the concentrations of the air pollutants will increase (USDHHS 2006). Another research which have
similar finding by Jang Yeul and Wan Je (2009) that is there are many factors that affect the level of IAQ in a building, including the environmental factors (i.e., temperature, humidity, the amount of ventilation, and the air flow speed), the location of the building, and the pollutant origins. Environment of the room should also be taken into the consideration such the temperature of the room, glare from the lights and much more. According to Po et al., (2001), their research found that the occupants of the building is experiencing some poor indoor air quality symptoms due to lower temperature than recommended by the guidelines and also glare problems.
The level of IAQ is also affected by the contamination levels in the building. In a research by Gunnar and Peder (2001), they have stated that it can be generally assumed that an increase of indoor air complaints is caused by indoor air pollution one way or another. We can say that indoor air pollution will always result to bad IAQ. Indoor air pollution can be caused by many factor. Gases or particles released into the air from a wide variety of sources (Sunyoung et al., 2013). As stated by Yau et al., (2012), indoor air pollutants or inadequate ventilation may be the cause of IAQ problems. Without proper ventilation, the level of contamination would rise thus resulting in poor IAQ. Jang Yeul and Wan Je (2009) supported this theory in their study by stating that IAQ level will decrease with the decrease in ventilation performance because of revised airtightness in buildings and the increasing usage of materials and furniture that
accommodate high level of contaminations in the building. Lastly, according to John and Vina (1998), IAQ level is degraded as there were cross contamination between ventilation and the inlets for the outdoor air which is contaminated because the IAQ
level depends on the external air which is used for the ventilation.
2.2.2 Effects of poor IAQ in a building
by poor IAQ. Based on a research by Gunnar and Peder (2001), the relationship between the exposure to total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) and impact on
health is directly proportional. Occupants that is exposed to very small particles, which are between 0.5 to 0.2 microns, carry a huge risk that can affect their respiratory systems (Sunyoung et al., 2013). According to Che-Ani et al., (2012) and ASHRAE (2009), even though the level of the contaminants is not high, the situation can possibly give health problems to the occupants in the long run. As an example, drowsiness and decrease in term of productivity of the occupants can be caused by high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) (Mohamed and Sulaiman 2011).
There is now a great number of studies stating that poor IAQ can affect the productivity in a workplace. If the occupants feel uncomfortable with the environment in the building, they would be more stressful despite the nature of the work itself. It is not only the physical health that is affected by poor IAQ but also psychological health (Naziah et al., 2011). Research done by Almuhanna et al., (2011) had concluded that there are negative effect on the productive performance of the occupants with the increase of air contaminants and gases. With higher contaminated air, the occupants will have a hard time to be comfort which will affect their moods. As stated by Sulaiman et al., (2013), productivity and well-being of the facility will be badly influenced by the poor level of IAQ.
According to ICOP (2010), there are several health effects due to poor IAQ. First, it is
the health effects because of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). ETS can be defined as increasing level of substances in indoor air from tobacco smoke. Cigarette smoking is the major origin of ETS. Smoke that is emitted from the combustion of cigarette and
Building Syndrome". SBS describe situation when acute health and/or comfort effects is experienced by the occupants in the building that appear to be linked to time spent
in a particular building, but where no specific illness or cause can be identified. The complaints may be from a particular room or zone and may be from throughout the building. Inadequate ventilation it the building may be the reason that contributes to the complaints of SBS. As an example, adequate amounts of outdoor intake air is not being provided by the mechanical ventilation system which is not designed or operated adequately. Control over the indoor environment in their offices is less than in home thus, resulting an increase in the incidence of reported health problems. Building occupants will experience symptoms that do not have any explanation which related to any particular illness and are hard to trace to any specific factor once in a while. SBS is been said to be this phenomenon. According to Syazwan et al., (2009), there are no specific symptoms that are experienced by the occupants but it is mostly at the upper respiratory (nasal, eye, and throat) but also headache and lethargy are also experienced. In a research by Mohamed and Sulaiman (2011), it is being concluded that the important indoor air factors that can affect the SBS in a building is the temperature, humidity, TVOC and bacteria.
Other than that, ICOP (2010) also listed building-related illness (BRI) as the health effects of poor IAQ in a building. BRI includes some of well-identified illnesses, such as Legionnaires’ disease, asthma,hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever. Even though most of these diseases can be treated, some have great risks. One of the
BRI is a form of bacterial pneumonia which is Legionnaires’ disease. It symptoms
consists of fever, chills and dry cough associated with muscle aches and occasional diarrhea. In any environmental reservoir in which its nutrient, water and temperature
requirement are met, legionella pneumophila which is the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease will grow, and enters the air when such sites are disturbed. It
