DECAY

EQUATION
Prepared by:
ANGELO A. ACENAS

What is a decay equation?

The equation that is derived in

terms of the rate at which a
contaminant
decays
in
a
ventilated
room
under
the
influence of a diluting influx of
fresh air.

The concentration within the room is therefore

reduced by an amount (Aq/V)c. This reduction in
concentration can be expressed by Ac, defined as follows:

The negative sign is used because the concentration is

decreasing.

EXAMPLE 16.5

If the air in a room has an initial

concentration of 1000 ppm (parts per
million) of hydrogen, how many air
changes are required to reduce the
value of this to 50 ppm?

EXAMPLE 16. 6
If local government regulations stipulate that the
minimum amount of fresh air which may be supplied to a
place of public entertainment is 8 litres s -1 per person
and that the minimum amount of space allowable in the
room is 12 m 3 per person, calculate the concentration of
carbon dioxide present after one hour, expressed as a
percentage. Assume that fresh air contains 0.032 per
cent of carbon dioxide and that human respiration
produces 4.72 x 10 -3 litres s -1 of carbon dioxide per
person. Also that the supply and exhaust points are
above the occupied zone and that (ts- t0 < 0. Then, from
Table 16.1, ev = 0.9 to 1.0. Take this as 0.95.

EXAMPLE 16. 7
A garage measures 60 m x 30 m x 3 m high and contains a number of motor
cars which produce a total of 0.0024 m 3 s -1 of carbon monoxide.
(a) If the maximum permissible concentration is to be 0.01 per cent of carbon
monoxide, what number of air changes per hour are required if the garage is in
continual use?
(b) If the garage is in use for periods of 8 hours only, and if at the start of any
such period the concentration of carbon monoxide is zero, what number of air
changes per hour is needed if the concentration is to reach 0.01 per cent only
by the end of the 8-hour period?
(c) What is the concentration after the first 20 minutes of an 8-hour period?
(d) If at the end of an 8-hour period the concentration is 0.01 per cent, for how
long should the ventilation plant be run in order to reduce the concentration to
0.001 per cent?
Assure ev = 1.0 for the case of supply at high level and exhaust at low level,
with (ts- tr) > O.

An application of the decay equation to

changes of enthalpy
Heat gains are not solely due to transmission; solar
radiation, electric lighting and occupants provide
additional sensible gains and there are, of course,
latent gains as well. There are, thus, complicated
changes of load occurring. By a process similar to
that used to derive equation (16.13) it is possible to
formulate, according to Jones (1963), a differential
equation which represents the physical situation and
to obtain a solution to it in terms of the relevant heat
exchanges, enthalpies and masses.

In this equation the following

notation has been used:

EXAMPLE 16. 8
A room measures 3 m 6 m 3 m high and is
air conditioned. Making use of the information
given
below,
determine
the
dry-bulb
temperature and relative humidity in the room
three minutes after the air conditioning plant
has been started, assuming that the initial state
in the room is the same as the state outside.
Ignore the effect of the thermal inertia of the
building.