MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 1 Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 4. Examine causes of indoor and outdoor air pollution. 4.1 Discuss the natural variables causally related to indoor air pollution. 4.2 Discuss the anthropogenic variables causally related to indoor air pollution. 4.3 Calculate volatile organic compound (VOC) and exempt solvent (ES) values for a selected scenario. Course/Unit Learning Outcomes Learning Activity 4.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 389-432 Unit III Mini Project 4.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 389-432 Unit III Mini Project 4.3 Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 389-432 Unit III Mini Project Reading Assignment Chapter 11: Indoor Air Quality, pp. 389–432 Unit Lesson In our last unit, we discussed the aerosol particle science of studying aerodisperse systems and included volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as one of the significant aerosol particle families of concern in air quality. Further, we currently understand that approximately 54% of VOCs are sourced from industrial sources, with the remaining 46% of VOCs being sourced from highway vehicles (21%), non-road mobile sources (16%) and stationary fuel combustion (9%) (Phalen & Phalen, 2013). In this unit, Godish, Davis, and Fu (2014) spend considerable time explaining the implications of how these VOC sources impact indoor air quality. In order to fully understand how we can learn to anticipate organic compound pollutants within the context of indoor air quality, we must first understand the various speciation of volatiles and semivolatiles (SVOC) from both natural sources and anthropological sources. Hydrocarbon Categories Godish et al. (2014, p. 411) are careful to speciate VOCs into the following categories of hydrocarbons (HC): (a) aliphatic, (b) aromatic, (c) halogenated, and (d) oxygenated. We are going to take a few moments to look at each of these categorical hydrocarbons in order to understand their chemical composition, sources, and behaviors. If we can better understand each category of hydrocarbon, we can better predict—and subsequently engineer—indoor air quality through specifically designed engineering controls. As a reminder, hydrocarbons are simply defined as organic compounds containing only the two elements of carbon and hydrogen, with carbon being the base element (Hill & Feigl, 1987). UNIT III STUDY GUIDE Engineering for Indoor Air Quality MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Aliphatic hydrocarbons are most easily distinguished as not being an aromatic hydrocarbon (we will discuss aromatic hydrocarbons next). You may recall that elemental carbon only has four receptor sites available for bonds in which to share up to three electron pairs. A saturated hydrocarbon (alkanes/paraffins) molecule means that there are atoms bonded to all four of the carbon re ...

1. MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
4. Examine causes of indoor and outdoor air pollution.
4.1 Discuss the natural variables causally related to indoor air
pollution.
4.2 Discuss the anthropogenic variables causally related to
indoor air pollution.
4.3 Calculate volatile organic compound (VOC) and exempt
solvent (ES) values for a selected
scenario.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
4.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 11, pp. 389-432
Unit III Mini Project
4.2

2. Unit Lesson
Chapter 11, pp. 389-432
Unit III Mini Project
4.3
Unit Lesson
Chapter 11, pp. 389-432
Unit III Mini Project
Reading Assignment
Chapter 11: Indoor Air Quality, pp. 389–432
Unit Lesson
In our last unit, we discussed the aerosol particle science of
studying aerodisperse systems and included
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as one of the significant
aerosol particle families of concern in air quality.
Further, we currently understand that approximately 54% of
VOCs are sourced from industrial sources, with
the remaining 46% of VOCs being sourced from highway
vehicles (21%), non-road mobile sources (16%) and
stationary fuel combustion (9%) (Phalen & Phalen, 2013). In
this unit, Godish, Davis, and Fu (2014) spend
considerable time explaining the implications of how these VOC
sources impact indoor air quality. In order to
fully understand how we can learn to anticipate organic
compound pollutants within the context of indoor air
quality, we must first understand the various speciation of
volatiles and semivolatiles (SVOC) from both
natural sources and anthropological sources.

3. Hydrocarbon Categories
Godish et al. (2014, p. 411) are careful to speciate VOCs into
the following categories of hydrocarbons (HC):
(a) aliphatic, (b) aromatic, (c) halogenated, and (d) oxygenated.
We are going to take a few moments to look
at each of these categorical hydrocarbons in order to understand
their chemical composition, sources, and
behaviors. If we can better understand each category of
hydrocarbon, we can better predict—and
subsequently engineer—indoor air quality through specifically
designed engineering controls. As a reminder,
hydrocarbons are simply defined as organic compounds
containing only the two elements of carbon and
hydrogen, with carbon being the base element (Hill & Feigl,
1987).
UNIT III STUDY GUIDE
Engineering for Indoor Air Quality
MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Aliphatic hydrocarbons are most
easily distinguished as not being an

4. aromatic hydrocarbon (we will discuss
aromatic hydrocarbons next). You
may recall that elemental carbon only
has four receptor sites available for
bonds in which to share up to three
electron pairs. A saturated
hydrocarbon (alkanes/paraffins)
molecule means that there are atoms
bonded to all four of the carbon
receptor sites with a simple, weak,
single bond (one pair of shared
electrons). This is easily observed
with the hydrogen atom (one receptor
site) bonded to all four of the carbon
receptor sites in methane (CH4) and
with ethane (C2H6) (Hill & Feigl, 1987).
This understanding of available
carbon receptor sites becomes
extremely important as we begin to
investigate other available gas
molecules in the human or ecological
body that come into contact with
hydrocarbons. Despite their relatively
low reactivity, if there is a receptor site
available (or a single bond that is easily broken), then there is a
possibility of a chemical reaction occurring
with the hydrocarbon compound and important available gases
in the body (including oxygen) becoming
unavailable for sustaining life in the human or ecological body.
This is what makes hydrocarbons so
precarious when in contact with life forms (plant, animal, and
human). Alkanes typically float on water as they
are insoluble in water, but are deadly as an air pollutant with
their ability to dissolve fatlike molecules from the
cell membranes within the alveoli of the lung to cause chemical
pneumonia (Hill & Feigl, 1987).

5. There are also the unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkenes/olefins)
that are characterized by a stronger, carbon-
to-carbon double bond (two pairs of shared electrons). These
would include ethene (CH2=CH2), propene
(CH3CH=CH2), 1-Butene, 1-Pentene (e.g., properly named
ethylene, propylene). These are often easily
converted into plastics and many other intermediates for
synthetics and end products (Hill & Feigl, 1987).
These aliphatic hydrocarbons are what constitute the primary
reactants in the photochemical processes that
we discussed in Unit I, producing smog and haze (Godish et al.,
2014). Alkenes are readily found as an off-
gas of ripening fruits and vegetables (producing ethylene), but
can also be found in industrial indoor
applications such as welding (actually in cutting steel with an
oxyacetylene torch) or as pure acetylene as a
general anesthetic for surgery (Hill & Feigl, 1987).
Figure 2.C2H6 or ethane Figure 1. CH4 or methane
VOC
Hydrocarbons
Aliphatic
Aromatic
Halogenated
Oxygenated
VOC hydrocarbon categories

6. MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Aromatic hydrocarbons are simply characterized by having an
unusually
strong, stable ring of electrons as the base structure. This is
typically
exemplified with benzene (C6H6) (Hill & Feigl, 1987; Godish
et al.,
2014). You may recognize the compounds routinely used to
produce
fuel additives for improved octane concentrations (benzene,
toluene,
ethylbenzene, and xylene or the BTEX constituents) from our
reading in
Unit I, or even from some of your other reading for our classes
within
this program of study (Godish et al., 2014). These aromatics are
the
hydrocarbons readily found in ambient air and too often
considered to
be solely outdoor air quality variables. Godish et al. (2014)
make it clear
in our reading for this unit that even these compounds pose a
threat to
indoor air quality, given our contemporary society’s propensity

7. for
combining various VOC types indoors from various sources to
produce
concentrated polluted environments (in terms of pollutants and
exposure
time) in our own homes and office dwellings. In fact, we learn
that up to 40 different VOC compounds were
found to be present in residences and office buildings (Godish
et al., 2014).
Halogenated hydrocarbons are some of the most readily
recognized VOCs in indoor air pollution, given that
they are characterized by their quick bonding with the elements
chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine, or astatine
(halogens) (Hill & Feigl, 1987; Godish et al., 2014). As one
could readily imagine, the common use of chlorine
as a disinfectant in many residential and business (including
heavy industry) environments provides a perfect
source for bonding with hydrocarbons already present in the
work space or living space. The halogenated
hydrocarbons are easily formed with one hydrogen on a
hydrocarbon molecule being replaced by halogen
atoms (Hill & Feigl, 1987). We can see this demonstrated with
something as simple as methane being altered
in the presence of chlorine, with multiple chlorine atoms
replacing the hydrogen atoms to form compounds
like the common solvent methylene chloride (CH2Cl2) or the
old anesthetic (and still widely used commercial
and industrial solvent) chloroform (CHCl3). As a result, indoor
air quality may be quickly polluted with the
inadvertent creation of narcotic compounds as aerosol mists and
subsequent dermatitis-causing agents.
Consequently, those aerosol particles can then readily come into
prolonged contact with skin with otherwise
severe irritants then becoming blood volume-altering agents
with any significant prolonged contact with eyes,

8. mucosa, or the respiratory tract (Hill & Feigl, 1987; Godish et
al., 2014; Phalen & Phalen, 2013).
Oxygenated hydrocarbons (or oxyhydrocarbons) are readily
formed with a hydrocarbon in the presence of
oxygen (O2). You may recall from our first unit reading that
Godish et al. (2014) demonstrate this with
methane (CH4) being exposed to O2 to create the alcohol
methanol (CH3OH) also known as methyl alcohol.
Further, we are reminded of aldehydes (such as formaldehyde),
ketones (such as acetone), ethers, and
organic acids (such as acetic acid) being formed and
subsequently found in high concentrations in indoor air
samplings of both residential and commercial buildings (Godish
et al., 2014; Phalen & Phalen, 2013). In
addition to the SVOC concentrations, Godish et al. (2014)
reference many of these types of compounds as
evidenced in the findings of sick building syndrome studies
from multiple Danish investigations as well as
United States investigations from the 1980s. You may recall
from more recent news the health concerns and
reported sicknesses attributed to formaldehyde concentrations
validated in housing provided by the U.S.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to flood
victims of recent years.
Indoor Pollutants
Consequently, what we can expect to find in indoor air quality
are pollutants that are a combination of both
anthropogenic and natural sources, often with one exacerbating
the other (Godish et al., 2014). What we
need to do as environmental engineers is learn to quantify the
pollutants, speciate the pollutants, and then
consider the possible sources of each pollutant as a critical step
in our air quality engineering strategy. This

9. can be demonstrated within our practical application of this
strategic approach with our course project work
for this unit.
In our course project, we are working with a scenario where you
are an air quality engineering consultant
tasked with conducting an evaluation for a permit application
(“Permit by Rule” or PBR) for a select painting
operation facility. We know from our work in our last unit that
the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) revealed VOC
concentrations for both the paint resin coating, as well as
thinners/solvents. We further know that the
Figure 3. CH2=CH2 or ethylene
MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
permitting state has specific guidance for quantifying VOC for
air quality permitting and has provided specific
permit limits for select metrics of air quality.
We will use the following steps to calculate our VOC quantities
for our air permit evaluation document.
However, for the sole purpose of demonstrating an example in
this unit lesson, we will use different values
from what are provided for you in the scenario’s tabulated data.

10. When you calculate your scenario values, use
the tabulated data presented for the scenario instead of these
numbers presented in the following examples:
First, we reference our scenario for the SDS information on the
coating material. Then, we multiply our
Coating Wv by the gallons of coating/unit for the interior liner
coating material, to derive a value for VOC/unit.
We will not have to calculate the thinner since the thinner is
pre-mixed into our coating material for this
scenario.
For example, the calculation below is for a given coating
material VOC content (Coating Wv) of 4.8 lb/gal
coating and an Interior Liner Coating Material of 5 gal
coating/unit (Note: The actual scenario tabulated data is
Coating Wv = 2.8 lb/gal and the Interior Liner Coating Material
= 10 gal coating/unit):
VOC/unit (in lb) = Coating Wv (lb/gal coating) x Interior Liner
Coating Material (gal coating/unit)
= 4.8 lb/gal x 5 gal
= 24.0 lb
Second, we reference our scenario for the SDS information on
the solvent. Then, we multiply the Exempt-
solvent Content’s lb/gal by the required number of gallons of
solvent/unit for the Interior Liner Coating Material
to derive a value for Exempt Solvent (ES)/unit.
For example, the calculation below is for a given Exempt-

11. solvent Content of 1.5 lb/gal coating requiring 4 gal
solvent/unit for a given Interior Liner Coating Material (Note:
The actual scenario tabulated data is Exempt-
solvent Content = 0.5 lb/gal and the Interior Liner Coating
Material solvent requirement = 2 gal solvent/unit):
Exempt Solvent (ES)/unit (in lb) = Exempt-solvent Content
(lb/gal) x Interior Liner Coating Material solvent
requirement (gal solvent/unit)
= 1.5 lb/gal coating x 4 gal solvent/unit
= 6.0 lb
Now, using the actual tabulated data provided for our scenario,
we can calculate the actual values for our
scenario and know exactly how much VOC and ES by weight
that we will need to accommodate per unit in
our operation. These calculated values will be needed when we
perform our maximum hourly and annual
emission rate calculations within our next section of the air
permit evaluation document. We have just
quantified the indoor air pollutants for the process, even before
actually operating the booth. This type of
forecasting is how we ultimately engineer our controls to
protect our indoor air quality!
References
Godish, T., Davis, W. T., & Fu, J. S. (2014). Air quality (5th

12. ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Hill, J., & Feigl, D. (1987). Chemistry and life: An introduction
to general, organic, and biological life (3rd ed.).
New York, NY: Macmillian.
Phalen, R. F., & Phalen, R. N. (2013). Introduction to air
pollution science: A public health perspective.
Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
MEE 6501, Advanced Air Quality Control 5
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Suggested Reading
In order to access the following resource, click the link below.
The following article is an interesting study of the effects of
longer-duration exposures to VOC concentrations
in formaldehyde-based environments (presenting an exposure to
concentrated formalin levels, such as was
the instance in the post-hurricane Katrina FEMA-provided
trailers mentioned in the unit lesson) on individuals’

13. pulmonary function (PF). This PF measurement is often a pre-
employment, mid-employment, and post-
employment metric utilized to understand workers’ individual
ventilation (breathing capacity) health, while
anticipating one’s exposure to indoor air quality pollutants
within an industrial work system. You may
recognize the measurement as the pulmonary function test
(PFT).
Uthiravelu, P., Saravanan, A., Kumar, C., & Vaithiyanandane,
V. (2015). Pulmonary function test in formalin
exposed and nonexposed subjects: A comparative study. Journal
of Pharmacy and Bio Allied
Sciences, 7(5), 35. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.ed
u/apps/doc/A412232583/AONE?u=ora
n95108&sid=AONE&xid=9e2f350c
http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.ed
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http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.ed
u/apps/doc/A412232583/AONE?u=oran95108&sid=AONE&xid=
9e2f350c