AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Spatial Mapping of Indoor Particulate Matter Concentrations Using Wireless Network of Low-Cost Dust Sensors
SAMEER PATEL, Jiayu Li, Apoorva Pandey, Rajan Chakrabarty, Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St Louis
Abstract Number: 215 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Residential solid fuel combustion results in poor indoor air quality, and subsequent health burden. The majority of indoor air quality studies focus on gravimetric PM$_(2.5) measurements inside the kitchen, mostly as an indicator of personal exposure of the person cooking. But depending on the layout and ventilation characteristics of the household, cookstove emissions can spread to other parts of the household also putting other members at risk. For a better understanding of household air pollution, monitoring the spatial particulate matter (PM) concentration profiles throughout the household is vital. This requires cost-effective instrumentation and low cost PM sensors [1] have good potential to map the spatial variability.
A wireless PM sensor (Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F) network, developed in the laboratory, was deployed in field for performance evaluation. Two households in Raipur, India using solid fuel cookstoves were selected for the study. Multiple sensors, sending real-time data wirelessly to a data-acquisition system, were installed at different locations in the kitchen and adjoining parts of the household. A TSI SidePak was also collocated with one of the sensors for performance comparison.
Data from both the sensor and SidePak demonstrated similar trends. Low spatial variability was observed within the kitchen due to its small size, poor ventilation and high smoke-release rate from the cookstove. Sensors installed in the adjoining rooms demonstrated high PM concentrations throughout the house, exposing other household members to PM levels comparable to the kitchen area. Natural ventilation sources such as open windows and doors provided insufficient air circulation. The same household demonstrated significantly different PM concentration decay rate on different days owing to varying natural air circulation conditions. Further design improvements to the sensors are also recommended to improve their performance in the field.
1.Yang, et al., Aerosol Science and Technology 49.11 (2015): 1063-1077.