Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Indoor Air and its Treatment by Biofiltration-Adsorption

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   Nowadays, we recognise the link between the growing frequency of illnesses such as asthma, allergies and cancers, and the effects of exposure to chemical pollutants in the air that we breathe indoors. Considering these negative effects, indoor air quality (IAQ) is a public health issue that also determines, to a large extent, occupant health, comfort and productivity and, therefore requires special attention.

   Currently, technologies used to treat this kind of pollution have been judged and are not considered fully satisfactory for achieving cleaner indoor air. Accordingly, the main objective of the present study is to treat a micro-polluted air with seven VOCs recognised as important contributors to the deterioration of Indoor Air (IA) (butanol, butyl acetate, formaldehyde, limonene, toluene, trichloroethylene (TCE) and undecane).

C; Hort1*, V. Platel1, A. Luengas1, M. Ondarts2, S. Sochard1

1 Thermal, Energy and Process Laboratory (LaTEP), Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Quartier Bastillac, 55 Avenue d'Azereix BP 1624, 65016 Tarbes, France. * cecile.hort@univ-pau.fr

2 Laboratoire Optimisation de la Conception et Ingénierie de l’Environnement (LOCIE), Université de Savoie, Polytech Annecy-Chambéry Campus scientifique Savoie Technolac, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France

 

   Competing interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

   Academic editor: Carlos N Díaz.

   Content quality: This paper has been peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers. See scientific committee here

   Citation: C. Hort, V. Platel, A. Luengas, M. Ondarts, S. Sochard, 2017, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Indoor Air and its Treatment by Biofiltration-Adsorption, IV International Conference of Odours and VOCs in the Environment, Valladolid, Spain, www.olores.org

   Copyright: 2018 Olores.org. Open Content Creative Commons license. It is allowed to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles in olores.org website, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.

   ISBN: 978-84-697-7359-8

   Keyword: Biofilter, micro-polluted air, compost, activated carbon, coupled process.

 

Abstract

   Nowadays, we recognise the link between the growing frequency of illnesses such as asthma, allergies and cancers, and the effects of exposure to chemical pollutants in the air that we breathe indoors. Considering these negative effects, indoor air quality (IAQ) is a public health issue that also determines, to a large extent, occupant health, comfort and productivity and, therefore requires special attention. Currently, technologies used to treat this kind of pollution have been judged and are not considered fully satisfactory for achieving cleaner indoor air. Accordingly, the main objective of the present study is to treat a micro-polluted air with seven VOCs recognised as important contributors to the deterioration of Indoor Air (IA) (butanol, butyl acetate, formaldehyde, limonene, toluene, trichloroethylene (TCE) and undecane).

   For this, biofiltration and adsorption were combined as these technologies seem to be the best option to treat the variety of indoor pollutants because they integrate synergetic advantages of both processes. A high biofiltration removal efficiency was obtained (over 95%) for all the pollutants studied, except for the TCE which was poorly treated by biofiltration (20-30%) but highly removed by adsorption (90% in average). This study has shown that adding the process of adsorption allows us also to treat hydrophobic pollutants, therefore making the coupled processes more efficient.

 

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