Particle deposition indoors: a review

Particle deposition indoors has received increasing attention recently because of increasing concern about the effects of particle exposure on human health. Deposition is a positive phenomenon from the perspective of human health, as deposited particles cannot be inhaled unless resuspended. There are studies showing strong correlation between the prevalence of biological-origin airborne particles and the prevalence of some specific sick building syndrome (Menzies et al., 1998; Teeuw et al., 1994). In the literature, the amount of research effort put on particle deposition indoors which is directly related to human health and microcontamination control is far less than the amount of research on deposition in small diameter tube/channel. This is a summary of the full-length version which will appear on the home page. The full-length paper aims to provide an up-to-date revision for both experiment and modeling on particle deposition indoors. This paper summarizes the experimental studies for particle deposition indoors for non-industrial environments. In section 2, 'Background', an overview of the different mechanisms of particle deposition, focusing on indoor environments is addressed. In section 3, 'Experimental Study Review', a survey of aerosol deposition experiments in small experimental chambers and real houses (or large-scale chambers) is presented. Detailed experimental measurements are addressed for the real house studies. The experimental techniques of particle generation, particle labeling and detection methods are discussed. Although the present paper focuses on experimental studies, it would be more complete to include some discussions on the modeling of the term particle eddy diffusivity and it is reviewed in section 4, 'Modeling Review'.