Migration of aerosol particles inside a two-zone apartment with natural ventilation: A multi-zone validation of the multi-compartment and size-resolved indoor aerosol model

Abstract

Since decades, indoor aerosol models have been introduced to understand the behaviour of indoor aerosols. However, studies about model validation in multi-zone form are very rare because of the lack of high quality and well-controlled measurements. We utilized state-of-the-art measurement and modelling approaches to validate the Multi-Compartment and Size-resolved Indoor Aerosol Model (MC-SIAM) inside a two-zone apartment with natural ventilation. According to the MC-SIAM simulations, the ventilation rates ranged from 0.06 to 0.31 h^–1 during closed windows and it was as high as 2.1 h^–1 when a window was open; compared to the tracer gases analysis results, the ventilation rate was as high as 0.26 h^–1 (closed windows) and 1.7 h^–1 (open window). The internal airflow predicted with the MC-SIAM ranged from 9.3 to 11 m^–3 h (tracer gas analysis 7.6–15 m^–3 h) when the door between the internal rooms was opened. The methods utilized in this study have proven that indoor aerosol models such as the MC-SIAM are valid to describe the behaviour of indoor aerosol particles inside multi-zone dwellings with the assumption of well-mixed indoor air inside each zone. The next step in indoor aerosol models development should include re-suspension and new particle formation processes.