Impact of Airflow Characteristics on Particle Resuspension from Indoor Surfaces

Resuspension is an important source of indoor particles. We measured the resuspension of 1 to 20 mu m particles on common indoor materials and explored the importance of turbulence to the resuspension process. Experimental variables included materials ( linoleum, carpet, and galvanized sheet metal) and bulk air velocity (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 m/s). At each of these conditions the turbulence intensity in the boundary layer was varied between a low, medium, and high state and ranged from 9 to 34% at the surface. For comparison of resuspension from the considered surfaces and at different flow conditions, we use the relative resuspension, which quantifies resuspension without requiring knowledge of the number of particles initially seeded on the surface. The relative resuspension compares the fraction of particles resuspended at the experimental conditions to the maximum achieved with a controlled impinging jet. In general, the results show that for the ranges considered, increasing velocity caused the largest increase in resuspension, followed by increasing turbulence intensity and then increasing particle diameter. All three material types showed consistent patterns with carpet having the largest resuspension for a given set of conditions, followed by linoleum and then by galvanized sheet metal. High turbulence and high velocity conditions minimized the differences between materials. An understanding of the relative magnitudes of these effects allows for better analysis and mitigation of indoor resuspension.