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Natural insulation fibres for the absorption of indoor volatile organiccompoundsOrmondroyd, Graham; Curling, Simon; Mansour, Elie; Marriott, Raymond

Published: 01/01/2015

Cyswllt i'r cyhoeddiad / Link to publication

Dyfyniad o'r fersiwn a gyhoeddwyd / Citation for published version (APA):Ormondroyd, G., Curling, S., Mansour, E., & Marriott, R. (2015). Natural insulation fibres for theabsorption of indoor volatile organic compounds. Paper presented at EUROMAT 2015, Warsaw,Poland.

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09. Sep. 2020

Elie MansourDr Graham Ormondroyd, Prof Ray Marriott, Dr Simon Curling

Natural insulation fibres for the absorption

of indoor volatile organic compounds

The BioComposites Centre

Bangor University, UK

Sick building syndrome

• First noticeable case:1970s, Sweden, in

preschools; casein that was emitted from

self-levelling cement.

• Several similar cases were thereafter

reported:

– 10,000 Canadian buildings in the mid-

1990s

– Cost of ≈$1 million at EPA U.S.

headquarters due to decreased

productivity

WALLACE, L.A. (2001): Human Exposure to Volatile Organic Pollutants:

Implications for Indoor Air Studies: Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 26: 269–301

What’s the problem?

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

TV

OC

co

ncen

trati

on

(µ

g/m

3)

Highestrecordedvalues

Mean values

European regulations and schemes

Limit

concentrations

Germany

(Ausschuss zur

gesundheitlichen

Bewertung von

Bauprodukten (AgBB),

2012)

Belgium

(Federal Public Service

Of Health, Food Chain

Safety And Environment,

2012)

France

(Ministère De L’écologie, Du

Développement Durable, Des

Transports Et Du Logement,

2011)

Finland

(Finnish Society of

Indoor Air Quality and

Climate, 2010)

TVOC 1,000 µg/m3 µg/m3

after 28 days of storing

in test chamber

1,000 µg/m3 after 28

days of storing in test

chamber

2,000 µg/m3 for class B

1,500 µg/m3 for class A

1,000 µg/m3 for class A+

200 µg/m2h for class

M1 and 400 µg/m2h

for class M2

Formaldehyde 100 µg/m3 after 28

days of storing in test

chamber

100 µg/m3 after 28

days of storing in test

chamber

120 µg/m3 for class B

60 µg/m3 for class A

10 µg/m3 for class A+

50 µg/m2h and 125

µg/m2h for class M2

Acetaldehyde 1,200 µg/m3 after 28

days of storing in test

chamber

200 µg/m3 after 28

days of storing in test

chamber

400 µg/m3 for class B

300 µg/m3 for class A

200 µg/m3 for class A+

-

Maximum allowable concentrations of VOCs set by European regulations and schemes

Why wool?

CURLING, S.F., LOXTON, C., ORMONDROYD, G.A. (2012): A rapid method for

investigating the absorption of formaldehyde from air by wool. J. Mater. Sci: 47: 3248–3251

• 4.9% by weight absorbed

• 2/3 permanently bound

What is wool?

Wool fibre structure showing cortical and cuticular parts.

http://www.biotechlearn.org.nz/focus_stories/wool_innovations/wool_fibre_structure_and_properties

VOC

Absorption

VOC

Functional group

Which VOCs?

• Formaldehyde

• Toluene

• Limonene

• Dodecane

Increasing polarity

Formaldehyde analysis

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

5

-135 865 1865 2865 3865

TA

RG

ET

% P

/PO

MA

SS

/MG

TIME/MINS

Mass Target % P/Po

DVS results

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Swaledale UnscouredSwaledale

Welsh UnscouredLight Herdwick

Drysdale GreySwaledale

Blackface Alpaca saddle Alpaca waste Deer

Form

ald

ehyd

e a

bsro

bed (

g/K

g)

g formaldehyde / kg of material

Toluene, limonene and dodecane analysis

N2

VOC

sources

FA

Flow

controlMicro-

chamber

Sample

holder

Tenax

tube

VOC

trap

Thermal desorber

Thermal

desorber

GC-FIDTenax

tube

Chromatograms

• Calculated indirectly

Difference in area = amount absorbed

4.960

4.965

4.970

4.975

4.980

4.985

4.990

4.995

5.000

5.005

5.010

5.015

5.020

5.025

5.030

5.035

5.040

5.045

5.050

5.055

5.060

5.065

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

4.960

4.965

4.970

4.975

4.980

4.985

4.990

4.995

5.000

5.005

5.010

5.015

5.020

5.025

5.030

5.035

5.040

5.045

5.050

5.055

5.060

5.065

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Chromatograms

• Calibration

R² = 0.9965

R² = 0.9982

R² = 0.9993

0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

250.00

300.00

350.00

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0 300.0 350.0

Mass (

ng

)

Area (µV*sec)

Toluene

Limonene

Dodecane

Linear (Toluene)

Linear (Limonene)

Linear (Dodecane)

Results

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Toluene Limonene Dodecane

ng o

f V

OC

per

g o

f w

ool

Detections - tube content

Blank

Swaledale

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Toluene Limonene Dodecane

% o

f V

OC

absorb

ed

Absorption %

Swaledale

Light Herdwick

Blackface

Unscoured Swaledale

Results

Comparison of results

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Swaledale Blackface

Form

ald

ehyd

e a

bsro

bed (

g/K

g)

g formaldehyde / kg of material

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Toluene Limonene Dodecane

% o

f V

OC

absorb

ed

Absorption %

Swaledale

Blackface

Conclusions

• Wool types show different absorption

charactaristics

– Wool type selection → tailored absorption

• Unscoured wool absorbs more

– Scouring of wool seem to lessen absorption potential probably due to lack of lanolin/contaminant or modification

• Wool surface polarity linked to absorption properties

The research leading to these results has received funding from the

European union's seventh framework programme (FP7/2007-2013) for

research, technological development and demonstration under grant

agreement no 609234.

Thanks for the wool!

Thank you