• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2012

Poor indoor air quality is now worldwide concern due to its adverse impacts on our health and environment. Moreover, these impacts carry a significant burden to the economy. Various technical approaches (e.g., biological, activated carbon fiber (ACF), photocatlytic oxidation (PCO), etc.) have gained popularity in controlling indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This is because removing indoor VOC sources or increasing ventilation rates is often not feasible or economical. This review provides an overview of the various air purification technologies used widely to improve indoor air quality. Although most of these technologies are very useful to remove indoor VOCs, there is no single fully satisfactory method due to their diversity and presence at the low concentration. To achieve technical innovations and the development of specific testing protocols, one should possess a better knowledge on the mechanisms of substrate uptake at VOC concentrations.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.53-58
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• 2008

With architectural technology, a building has been a far dense and close. So the thermal environment of the building has become pleasant, but the quality of indoor air has been degraded. Using synthetic products for construction materials and furniture indoors escalates the concentration of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) at indoor air, threatening the health of the residents. To reduce the concentration of volatile organic compounds at indoor air, many methods are designed, and of late, concern has been increased about the effect of air purification using air purifying plants. Field measurements were performed using Aglaonema brevispathum, Pachira aquatica and Ficus benjamiana, which were verified as air-purifying plants by NASA. The effect of reducing the concentration of air contaminants by plant studied in a full scale mock-up model. The variations of concentration of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Formaldehyde were monitored. In most cases, the effect was excellent in Toluene and formaldehyde in summer.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.762-767
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• 2009

Some types of semi-Volatile organic compounds (SVOC) that are emitted from plastics used in building materials and household appliances have associated health risks, even at low concentrations. In this study, micro chamber method for measuring SVOC is introduced and SVOC such as di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and butylated hydroxyltoluene emitted a flooring material were measured using a micro chamber method. Airflow characteristics in a micro test chamber deeply depended on air exchange rate. From the evaluation using an index of air change efficiency, such as the air age and the coefficient of air change performance, a fixed air exchange rate of $1.5\;h^{-1}$ in the micro chamber is desirable.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.1321-1326
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• 2002

A numerical model is investigated to predict a behavior of the gaseous volatile organic compounds and a subsurface contamination caused by them in the unsaturated zone. Two dimensional advective-dispersion equation caused by a density difference and two dimensional diffusion equation are computed by a finite difference method in the numerical model. A laboratory experiment is also carried out to compare the results of the numerical model. The dimensions of the experimental plume are 1.2m in length, 0.5m in height, and 0.05m in thickness. In comparing the result of 2 methods used in the numerical model with the one of the experiment respectively, the one of the advective-dispersion equation shows better than the one the diffusion equation.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.805-812
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• 1999

Adsorption characteristics of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) by activated carbon fiber(ACF) were investigated using a continuous system for benzene, toluene, xylene(BTX) generation. Studied characteristics for adsorption were equilibrium capacity, accumulative adsorption, and breakthrough curve. Operating variables were adsorption temperature(25~45$^{\circ}C$) and partial pressure(1.2~12 mmHg) of BTX. The experimental results show that the adsorption equilibrium capacity increases with increasing partial pressure of BTX and decreases with increasing temperature. It was also found that the break point was decreased with increasing partial pressure, temperature and gas flow rate due to an effect of mass transfer of adsorbate.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2002

The thermal desorption-gas chromatographic (TD-GC) system has been constructed for the measurement of volatile organic compounds. The thermal desortion unit is composed of four major parts: 1) the control part; 2) the thermal desorption part; 3) the focusing part; and 4) the injection part. The peltier element was introduced to the focusing part for the temperature of the focusing tube to reach-35$^{\circ}C$. The system was tested for the linearity of the calibration curves and reproducibility of instrumental analyses using some disinfection by-products (DBPs) and BTXs (benzene, toluene and p-xylene). The coefficients of determination (r$^2$) for all the calibration curves made were higher than 0.998, and the coefficients of variation (CV) for triplicate measurements were all within 10％. The system also has been tested for field applicability. The analysis of field samples showed that there was no breakthrough problem in the sampling system and that the system could be applied to field measurements.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.120-126
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• 2007

Volatile components in red bean (Vigna angularis) were investigated. Extracts prepared by simultaneous steam distillation and solvent extraction were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. One hundred and forty-two components including alkanes/alkenes (17), aromatics (5), furans (15), miscellaneous compounds (2), other nitrogen-containing compounds (11), aldehydes (11), naphthalenes (11), alcohols (34), ketones (23), sulfur-containing compounds (5) and esters (8) were identified. Some of these components, e.g. hexanal, were known to contribute to the "beany" odor in other beans. Due to the presence of such odor, red beans may not be acceptable to some consumers.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 1998

The formaldehyde vapor produced from wood and steel furniture was absorbed in distilled water and derivatized with acetylacetone and determined by UV-visible spectrophotometry. Variation in HCHO emission with time was monitored at room temperature. The emission of volatile compounds from wood, wood-based and steel-based materials was investigated in a 50 mL glass vial. The concentration of the gases emitted in a glass vial was determined by ion-trap GC-MS.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.211-214
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• 2009

A new porous silicon (PSi) microcavity sensor for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed. PSi microcavity sensor exhibiting unique reflectivity was successfully obtained by an electrochemical etching of silicon wafer. When PSi was fabricated into a structure consisting of two high reflectivity muktilayer mirrors separated by an active layer, a microcavity was formed. This PSi microcavity is very sensitive structures. Reflection spectrum of PSi microcavity indicated that the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) was of 10 nm and much narrower than that of fluorescent organic molecules or quantum dot. The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using PSi microcavity was achieved. When the vapor of VOCs condensed in the nanopores, the refractive indices of entire particle increased. When PSi microcavity was exposed to acetone, ether, and toluene, PSi microcavity in reflectivity was red shifted by 28 nm, 33 nm, and 20 nm for 2 sec, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1048-1064
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• 2005

Detection of specific compounds influencing food flavor quality is not easy. Electronic nose, comprised of electronic chemical sensors with partial specificity and appropriate pattern recognition system, is capable of recognizing simple and complex volatiles. It provides fast analysis with simple and straightforward results and is best suited for quality control and process monitoring of flavor in food industry. This review examines application of electronic nose in food analysis with brief explanation of its principle. Characteristics of different sensors and sensor drift. and solutions to related problems are reviewed. Applications of electronic nose in food industry include monitoring of fermentation process and lipid oxidation, prediction of shelf life, identification of irradiated volatile compounds, discrimination of food material origin, and quality control of food and processing by principal component analysis and neural network analysis. Electronic nose could be useful for quality control in food industry when correlating analytical instrumental data with sensory evaluation results.