A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY POLLUTANTS INSIDE A PRIVATE CAR CABIN USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

• Main Authors: Jayabal, S. (Author), Kumar, A.R (Author), Kumar, M.P (Author), Thirumal, P. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture 2022
• Subjects: ANOVA; car cabin; indoor air quality; indoor pollutant; particulate matter; RSM
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays a significant role in our daily life. IAQ is not only important in interior buildings but is also essential to the low volume space of automobile compartments. This study investigates the three critical IAQ pollutants of CO2, PM2.5, and PM10 in an air-conditioned private car cabin. Three qualitative input factors of human load, route, and air conditioning (ON and OFF) were considered to evaluate the effect of in-cabin car pollutants. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to determine the effect of the input parameters that affect IAQ in the car cabin. A mathematical modelling of response factors (pollutants) was determined using response surface methodology (RSM) in connection with the Taguchi orthogonal test design. It was found that indoor car cabin CO2, PM2.5, and PM10 concentrations were 3.32, 1.35, and 1.33 times higher than the on-road concentrations, respectively. The air-conditioning input factor has more effects for in-cabin pollutants compared with the other two input factors of human load and route. The R2 values obtained were greater than 95% for all the response factors. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standard limit, the air supply flow rate of 7.64 1/s per human (maximum 4 human load) was not enough to keep CO2 concentrations below 1000 ppm in the currently tested car cabin. © 2022 Transactions of Famena. All rights reserved.