Air washing for the control of formaldehyde in indoor air

Conference · Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6588400

Pedersen, B S; Fisk, W J

Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant that is difficult to control. One potentially suitable control technique for indoor formaldehyde is air washing: the absorption of formaldehyde by a liquid. In this report we present a mathematical model of an air washer, describe tests of two air washers, and compare the energy required for controlling formaldehyde concentrations by ventilation and by air washing. The two experimental air washers tested employed water as the washing liquid and incorporated a refrigeration system to control the humidity of the outlet airstream. Air flow rates through the air washers were 100 to 160 l/s and inlet formaldehyde concentrations were 80 to 480 ng/l. The formaldehyde removal efficiencies of the two designs were 0.36 to 0.47 and 0.30 to 0.63. Results show that an air washer with reasonable power and water requirements can effectively remove formaldehyde from indoor air. 5 references, 1 figure.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6588400
• Report Number(s): LBL-16822; CONF-840803-5; ON: DE84015994
• Resource Relation: Conference: 3. international conference on indoor air quality and climate, Stockholm, Sweden, 20 Aug 1984; Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
42 ENGINEERING
FORMALDEHYDE
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
AIR CLEANING SYSTEMS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
CONTROL
ENGINEERED SAFETY SYSTEMS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL
TESTING
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
424000 - Engineering- Pollution Control Equipment- (1980-1989)