Blower-door estimates of PM_2.5 deposition rates and penetration factors in an idealized room

Particle deposition and penetration in buildings has been widely studied, but the effect of indoor characteristics merits further investigation, so improved experimental methods may be needed. The present study measured indoor and outdoor concentrations of PM_2.5 and estimated PM_2.5 deposition rates and penetration factors under a variety of different indoor situations, with a novel method (blower-door method). The blower-door method is compared with the standard decay and rebound method for an idealized room (a portable building test cell; 6.08 m x 2.40 m x 2.60 m) under eight testing scenarios (empty, cardboard boxes in three arrangements, terry cloth wall covering, and three sets of window holes); run three times to establish the coefficient of variation representing precision. Results show that higher induced indoor-outdoor pressure differences cause a larger variation of estimated effective deposition rate on different indoor surfaces. The deposition rate and penetration factor may be influenced by indoor surface materials. The blower-door method gives higher precision for the estimates, and detects subtle differences in penetration factors, which may be difficult using the decay and rebound method. © The Author(s) 2020.