Indoor Air Quality Measurements

This thesis presents the results of a research project that involved laboratory experimentation for gathering data on how the concentration of a dense gas disperses in indoor air. A box was built and designed as a model of a typical indoor environment and a dense contaminant, carbon dioxide, was injected into the box at a known flow rate through either a high or a low injection port. The gases left the box through either a high or a low exit port. The concentration of the contaminant inside the box was measured with an indoor air quality monitor at sampling ports at different locations and at different times during the experiments. The time and place dependent data were organized to observe the pattern of dispersion of a dense indoor air contaminant. It was determined that CO2 tended to sink down and move away from the point of injection at lower elevations, while gradually diffusing upwards. It was concluded that the dispersion of carbon dioxide in the box was driven mainly by the density gradient and to a less extent by diffusivity.