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A large-scale test set-up for measuring VOC emissions from wood products under laboratory conditions in simulated real rooms

  • Eva Höllbacher , Cornelia Rieder-Gradinger EMAIL logo , Daniel Strateva and Ewald Srebotnik
Published/Copyright: October 11, 2014
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Holzforschung
From the journal Holzforschung Volume 69 Issue 4

Abstract

A large-scale test set-up was designed to evaluate the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions of building materials in a real room situation but under laboratory conditions. Two model rooms (ModR) with a volume of 30 m3 each were constructed of the wood-based building materials X-lam and OSB, respectively. Temperature and relative humidity (RH) inside the ModR were kept in a range of 21°C–25°C and 45%–55% RH. VOCs were collected at 13 different times over a period of 23 weeks, and the total VOC (TVOC) concentration was calculated from GC/MS data. Results were quantified as toluene equivalents (TE). In the X-lam-ModR, the TVOC concentration decreased by 64% over the whole measurement period from 115 to 41 μg m-3 TE. Terpenes were the most abundant substance group and accounted, on average, for 80% of the TVOC concentration. In the OSB-ModR, the TVOC concentration decreased by 72% from 443 to 124 μg m-3 TE. Aldehydes showed the highest concentrations, accounting, on average, for 52% of the TVOC, while 38% were terpenes. The results show that this type of test provides realistic data for the praxis.

Keywords: building products; cross-laminated timber; X-lam; OSB; model room; VOC
Corresponding author: Cornelia Rieder-Gradinger, Competence Center for Wood Composites and Wood Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Gumpendorfer Straße 1a, A-1060 Vienna, Austria, Phone: +43-1-58801-166469, Fax: +43-1-58801-166980, e-mail: ; and
aPresent address: Holzforschung Austria, Franz Grill Straße 7, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.

Acknowledgments

The Competence Center of Wood Composites and Wood Chemistry (Wood K plus) acknowledges the funding by the Austrian government and the regional governments of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Carinthia. The contribution of Thermo-Trans Kältetechnik GmbH on the construction and maintenance of the ACS is gratefully acknowledged.

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Received: 2014-4-23
Accepted: 2014-9-17
Published Online: 2014-10-11
Published in Print: 2015-5-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review Articles
  3. A large-scale test set-up for measuring VOC emissions from wood products under laboratory conditions in simulated real rooms
  4. Industrial waste water for biotechnological reduction of aldehyde emissions from wood products
  5. Original Articles
  6. Light scattering characterization of lignosulfonate structure in saline solutions
  7. Differences in wood properties of Picea abies L. Karst. in relation to site of provenance and population genetics
  8. Rapid determination of biomass and polypropylene in three types of wood plastic composites (WPCs) using FTIR spectroscopy and partial least squares regression (PLSR)
  9. Thermal modification of Southern pine combined with wax emulsion preimpregnation: effect on hydrophobicity and dimensional stability
  10. Mixed-mode fracture toughness of bond lines of PRF and PUR adhesives in European beech wood
  11. Effect of specimen dimension and pre-heating temperature on supercritical CO2 dewatering of radiata pine sapwood
  12. Sound absorption of wood-based materials
  13. Threshold for ion movements in wood cell walls below fiber saturation observed by X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM)
  14. Oxygen plasma treatment of bamboo fibers (BF) and its effects on the static and dynamic mechanical properties of BF-unsaturated polyester composites
  15. A combined view on composition, molecular structure, and micromechanics of fungal degraded softwood
  16. Morphological changes induced in wood samples by aqueous NaOH treatment and their effects on the conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II
  17. Young’s modulus and shear modulus of solid wood measured by the flexural vibration test of specimens with large height/length ratios
  18. Effects of cell wall ultrastructure on the transverse shrinkage anisotropy of Scots pine wood
  19. Short Note
  20. Reacted copper(II) concentrations in earlywood and latewood of micronized copper-treated Canadian softwood species
https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2014-0129
Keywords for this article
building products; cross-laminated timber; X-lam; OSB; model room; VOC

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review Articles
  3. A large-scale test set-up for measuring VOC emissions from wood products under laboratory conditions in simulated real rooms
  4. Industrial waste water for biotechnological reduction of aldehyde emissions from wood products
  5. Original Articles
  6. Light scattering characterization of lignosulfonate structure in saline solutions
  7. Differences in wood properties of Picea abies L. Karst. in relation to site of provenance and population genetics
  8. Rapid determination of biomass and polypropylene in three types of wood plastic composites (WPCs) using FTIR spectroscopy and partial least squares regression (PLSR)
  9. Thermal modification of Southern pine combined with wax emulsion preimpregnation: effect on hydrophobicity and dimensional stability
  10. Mixed-mode fracture toughness of bond lines of PRF and PUR adhesives in European beech wood
  11. Effect of specimen dimension and pre-heating temperature on supercritical CO2 dewatering of radiata pine sapwood
  12. Sound absorption of wood-based materials
  13. Threshold for ion movements in wood cell walls below fiber saturation observed by X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM)
  14. Oxygen plasma treatment of bamboo fibers (BF) and its effects on the static and dynamic mechanical properties of BF-unsaturated polyester composites
  15. A combined view on composition, molecular structure, and micromechanics of fungal degraded softwood
  16. Morphological changes induced in wood samples by aqueous NaOH treatment and their effects on the conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II
  17. Young’s modulus and shear modulus of solid wood measured by the flexural vibration test of specimens with large height/length ratios
  18. Effects of cell wall ultrastructure on the transverse shrinkage anisotropy of Scots pine wood
  19. Short Note
  20. Reacted copper(II) concentrations in earlywood and latewood of micronized copper-treated Canadian softwood species
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