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A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations

Received: 16 November 2014     Accepted: 21 November 2014     Published: 27 November 2014
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Abstract

This study used various methods to evaluate duct cleanliness and identify the levels of deposited dust in the HVAC systems of subway stations, as well as identifying the characteristics of the pollution sources at the stations. Levels of deposited dust were determined in two subway stations in Seoul from September 2011 to January 2012. The levels of dust deposited on ducts of the stations were measured by visual inspection, the quantitative vacuum test (VT), and the deposit thickness test (DTT). The VT results confirmed that no subway station exceeded a dust deposit of 1.0 g/㎡, which is the recommended surface contamination limit when using the VT method. However, in some supply ducts, the thickness of the dust layer exceeded 60.0㎛, the recommended surface contamination limit when using the DTT method. The visual inspection indicated that platform pollution in subway station A was higher than in the HVAC and waiting rooms, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.852). At subway station B, the waiting room had a slightly higher level of deposited dust, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.438). The inspected areas were divided into HVAC rooms, return lines, and supply lines according to ventilation type. Although all three inspections revealed that return lines had the highest levels of deposited dust, the difference was insignificant. The correlation between the results of the visual inspection and VT methods, and between the results of visual inspection and DTT methods were both significant (p >0.01) with r = 0.815 and 0.818, respectively. It was confirmed that the results of a qualitative visual inspection method corresponded relatively well with the results of the quantitative VT and DTT methods. Analyses of eight heavy metals in the HVAC systems of the subway stations indicated that the inclusion ratios of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg) were 80.75–93.6%, 2.94–15.64%, and 1.63–1.82%, respectively. Traces of other heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Cr) were also detected.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 2, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14
Page(s) 320-327
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

HVAC System, Duct, Deposited Dust, Subway Station

References
[1] EPA, “Should you have the air ducts in your home cleaned?,” EPA-402-K-97-002, Research Triangle Park: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Indoor Environment Division, Office of Air and Radiation, 1997.
[2] ASHRAE, “Gravimetric and Dust-spot Procedures for Testing Air-cleaning Devices Used in General Ventilation for Removing Particulate Matter,” Atlanta, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 52.1-1992), 1992.
[3] J. I. Fransson, S. H. Ruud, and L. Rosell, “Rena ventilationskanaler”, SP-Rapport: 38, SverigesProvnings- ochForskningsinstitut (SP), Energiteknik/KemiskAnalys, Borås, Sweden, 1995.
[4] B. Müller, K. Fitzner, and V. Küchen, ‘‘Airless, a European Project on HVAC Systems: Maintenance of HVAC-Systems Task Two”. In: Raw, G., Aizlewood, C. and Warren, P. (eds) Proceedings of Indoor Air ’99, Edinburgh, The 8th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate 1, pp. 355–360, 1999.
[5] NADCA, “Assessment, cleaning and restoration of HVAC systems: An industry standard for HVAC cleaning professionals”, 2006.
[6] HVCA, “Guide to good practice: Internal cleanliness of ventilation systems. (HVCA TR19),” Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association (HVCA), London. UK, 2005.
[7] L. M. Brosseau, D. Vesley, T. H Kuehn, J. Melson, and H. S. Han, “Dust cleaning: a review of associated health effects and results of company and expert surveys,” ASHRAE Transactions 106, pp. 180-187, 2000.
[8] P. Pasanen, “Emissions from the filters and hygiene of air ducts in the ventilation systems of office buildings,” Doctoral dissertation, University of Kuopio, Japan, 1998.
[9] R. Holopainen, V. Asikainen, P. Pasanen, and O. Seppanen, “The field comparison of three measuring techniques for evaluation of the surface dust level in ventilation ducts,” Indoor Air, vol. 12, pp. 47-54, 2002.
[10] NADCA, “Mechanical cleaning of non porous air conveyance system components 01,” 11p, 1992.
[11] HVCA, “Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems, Guide to good practice,” TR/17. Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association. London, UK, 1998.
[12] JADCA (S. Yoshizawa, H. Ito, K. Kumagai, K. Shizawa, S. Shimizu, S. Abe, and T. Ichiki), “Methods to evaluate the duct cleaning efficiency,” Research Report of the Japan Air Duct Cleaners Association, Tokyo, Japan, JADCA, 1997.
[13] FiSIAQ, “The Classification of Indoor Climate (2000),” FISIAQ publication 5E, The Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (FiSIAQ), Espoo, Finland. 40p, 2001
[14] VDI 6022 (4/2006/Draft), “Hygiene requirements for ventilation and air conditioning systems and units,” Measuring methods Part 2, pp. 6 , 2006.
[15] Korean Ministry of Environment, “Standard methods for contamination soil,” URL: http//www.konetic.or.kr, 2013.
[16] Y. H. Jung, and B. W. Ahn, “Experiments on contamination in air duct and air handling unit,” J. Korean Soc. Living Environ. Sys, vol. 10(1), pp. 41-46, 2003.
[17] K. Foarde, and M. Menetrez, “Evaluating the potential efficacy of three antifungal sealants of duct liner and galvanized steel as used in HVAC systems,” Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, vol. 29, pp. 38-43, 2002.
[18] H. Rauno, A. Vesa, P. Pertti, and S. Olli, “The Field Comparison of Three Measuring Techniques for Evaluation of the Surface Dust Level in Ventilation Ducts,” Indoor Air, vol. 12, pp. 47–54, 2002.
[19] S. B. Park, S. Na, T. J. Lee, H. K. Ko, S. J. Bae, S. D. Kim, D. S. Park, J. R. Sohn, and D. S. Kim, “Identification of PM10 Chemical Characteristics and Sources and Estimation of their Contributions in a Seoul Metropolitan Subway Station,” Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment, vol. 29(1) , pp. 74-85, 2013.
[20] H. L. Karlsson, L. Nilsson, and L. Moller, “Subway particles are more genotoxic than street particles and induce oxidative stress in cultured human lung cells,” Chemical Research in Toxicology, vol. 18, pp. 19-23, 2005.
[21] N. Federico, A. S. Jeffrey, and A. K. Kerry, “Biological and Metal Contaminants in HVAC Filter Dust,” ASHRAE Transactions 115, part 2, 2009
[22] M. A. Rajhi, M. R. Seaward, and A. S. Aamer, “Metal levels in indoor and outdoor dust in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” Environment International, vol. 22, pp. 315-324, 1996.
[23] M. Lisiewicz, R. Heimburger, and J. Golimowski, “Granulometry and the content of toxic and potentially toxic elements in vacuum-cleaner collected, indoor dusts of the city of Warsaw,” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 263, pp. 69-78, 2000.
[24] A. Turner, and L. Simmonds, “Elemental concentrations and metal bioaccessibility in UK household dust,” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 371, pp. 74-81, 2006.
Cite This Article
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    Joonsig Jung, Duckshin Park, Soon-Bark Kwon, Sungho Choi, Seongmi Kim, et al. (2014). A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 2(6), 320-327. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14

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    ACS Style

    Joonsig Jung; Duckshin Park; Soon-Bark Kwon; Sungho Choi; Seongmi Kim, et al. A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2014, 2(6), 320-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14

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    AMA Style

    Joonsig Jung, Duckshin Park, Soon-Bark Kwon, Sungho Choi, Seongmi Kim, et al. A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2014;2(6):320-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14,
      author = {Joonsig Jung and Duckshin Park and Soon-Bark Kwon and Sungho Choi and Seongmi Kim and Wooseok Lee and Hyungjin Jeon},
      title = {A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6},
      pages = {320-327},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20140206.14},
      abstract = {This study used various methods to evaluate duct cleanliness and identify the levels of deposited dust in the HVAC systems of subway stations, as well as identifying the characteristics of the pollution sources at the stations. Levels of deposited dust were determined in two subway stations in Seoul from September 2011 to January 2012. The levels of dust deposited on ducts of the stations were measured by visual inspection, the quantitative vacuum test (VT), and the deposit thickness test (DTT). The VT results confirmed that no subway station exceeded a dust deposit of 1.0 g/㎡, which is the recommended surface contamination limit when using the VT method. However, in some supply ducts, the thickness of the dust layer exceeded 60.0㎛, the recommended surface contamination limit when using the DTT method. The visual inspection indicated that platform pollution in subway station A was higher than in the HVAC and waiting rooms, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.852). At subway station B, the waiting room had a slightly higher level of deposited dust, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.438). The inspected areas were divided into HVAC rooms, return lines, and supply lines according to ventilation type. Although all three inspections revealed that return lines had the highest levels of deposited dust, the difference was insignificant. The correlation between the results of the visual inspection and VT methods, and between the results of visual inspection and DTT methods were both significant (p >0.01) with r = 0.815 and 0.818, respectively. It was confirmed that the results of a qualitative visual inspection method corresponded relatively well with the results of the quantitative VT and DTT methods. Analyses of eight heavy metals in the HVAC systems of the subway stations indicated that the inclusion ratios of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg) were 80.75–93.6%, 2.94–15.64%, and 1.63–1.82%, respectively. Traces of other heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Cr) were also detected.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Study on the Characterization of Deposited Dust on HVAC Ducts in Subway Stations
    AU  - Joonsig Jung
    AU  - Duckshin Park
    AU  - Soon-Bark Kwon
    AU  - Sungho Choi
    AU  - Seongmi Kim
    AU  - Wooseok Lee
    AU  - Hyungjin Jeon
    Y1  - 2014/11/27
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    SP  - 320
    EP  - 327
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140206.14
    AB  - This study used various methods to evaluate duct cleanliness and identify the levels of deposited dust in the HVAC systems of subway stations, as well as identifying the characteristics of the pollution sources at the stations. Levels of deposited dust were determined in two subway stations in Seoul from September 2011 to January 2012. The levels of dust deposited on ducts of the stations were measured by visual inspection, the quantitative vacuum test (VT), and the deposit thickness test (DTT). The VT results confirmed that no subway station exceeded a dust deposit of 1.0 g/㎡, which is the recommended surface contamination limit when using the VT method. However, in some supply ducts, the thickness of the dust layer exceeded 60.0㎛, the recommended surface contamination limit when using the DTT method. The visual inspection indicated that platform pollution in subway station A was higher than in the HVAC and waiting rooms, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.852). At subway station B, the waiting room had a slightly higher level of deposited dust, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.438). The inspected areas were divided into HVAC rooms, return lines, and supply lines according to ventilation type. Although all three inspections revealed that return lines had the highest levels of deposited dust, the difference was insignificant. The correlation between the results of the visual inspection and VT methods, and between the results of visual inspection and DTT methods were both significant (p >0.01) with r = 0.815 and 0.818, respectively. It was confirmed that the results of a qualitative visual inspection method corresponded relatively well with the results of the quantitative VT and DTT methods. Analyses of eight heavy metals in the HVAC systems of the subway stations indicated that the inclusion ratios of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg) were 80.75–93.6%, 2.94–15.64%, and 1.63–1.82%, respectively. Traces of other heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Cr) were also detected.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • National Indoor Environment & Noise Research Division, National Institute Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

  • Transportation Environmental Research Team, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang, Korea

  • Transportation Environmental Research Team, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang, Korea

  • National Indoor Environment & Noise Research Division, National Institute Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

  • National Indoor Environment & Noise Research Division, National Institute Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

  • National Indoor Environment & Noise Research Division, National Institute Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

  • Division of Environmental Information Research, Korea Environment Institute, Seoul, Korea

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