Ventilation Characterization of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Combustion Test Chamber Facility

摘要

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is evaluating pollutant emissions from kerosene and methane heaters using a test chamber. Under an interagency agreement with CPSC, the Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Group of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measured the air exchange rate of the chamber under various ventilation system operating conditions, the extent of air mixing within the chamber, and the interior volume of the chamber. The air exchange rate of the chamber was determined using the tracer gas decay method with sulfur hexafluoride as the tracer gas. Carbon dioxide was also used as a tracer gas in order to verify the decay rates obtained with the SF6 system; however CO2 could not be used during combustion tests. The effect of pollutant monitoring systems and combustion devices on air exchange rates was also examined. Based on multi-point concentration measurements during decays, the extent of mixing within the chamber appeared to be adequate to employ the single-zone tracer gas decay method. The interior air volume of the chamber was determined using the constant injection tracer gas technique and yielded a volume very close to the volume based on the physical dimensions of the chamber. Recommendations for an air exchange rate measurement system for the chamber and modifications to be made in order to more effectively utilize the system are made.