Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/4321

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  • Article
    Citation - Scopus: 2
    Indoor Air Co2 Concentrations and Ventilation Rates in Two Residences in İzmir, Turkey
    (Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, 2022) Taşer, Aybüke; Uçaryılmaz, Sedef; Çataroğlu, Ilgın; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    Houses are the places where people spend most of their time. That is why indoor air quality at home is essential for public health. Sufficient ventilation is the factor to avoid accumulation of pollutants in indoor air, which include microorganisms, such as SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, adequate ventilation is needed to provide good indoor air quality for human health and reduce infection risk at home. There are no reports of residential ventilation rates in Turkey. In this study, CO2 concentrations were measured in two residences in Izmir, Turkey. Three experiments were conducted to determine background concentrations and the rate of natural ventilation with infiltration and opening windows. Results show that air exchange provided by infiltration is low for both case rooms, while adequate ventilation could be achieved with natural ventilation under the studied conditions. Infiltration provided air exchange and ventilation rates of 0.18 h-1 and 5.9 m3/h for Case 1 and 0.29 h-1 and 8.23 m3/h for Case 2, respectively. Air exchange and ventilation rates were increased to 2.36 h-1 and 76.9 m3/h for Case 1 and 1.2 h-1 and 34 m3/h for Case 2, respectively, by opening the windows. Although ventilation can be provided by opening the windows, the other factors that determine its rate, e.g., meteorological variables, cannot be controlled by the occupants. Consequently, people cannot ensure the good indoor air quality in bedrooms and sufficient reduction in transmission of pathogenic microorganisms; therefore, risk of spreading diseases such as COVID-19 at home.
  • Article
    An Experimental Study on Release Mechanism of Iron and Manganese From Sediments To the Water Column in Reservoirs
    (2021) Vural, Buse; Elçi, Şebnem; Ökten, Hatice Eser
    Iron and manganese accumulation in drinking water reservoirs is a challenging issue and should be controlled to prevent their adverse effects on human health. Accumulation of these elements not only clogs pipeline systems but also causes stains on fixtures and laundry. Also, high concentrations of iron and manganese may lead to various health problems when ingested. This study focuses on the release mechanism of iron and manganese from sediments to the water column in reservoirs and investigates methods to prevent this release. Effects of hypoxia, hypolimnetic aeration, alkalinity of water, and thermal stratification on iron and manganese concentrations were investigated through laboratory experiments. Experiments done simulating the water column showed that hypoxia caused more dissolution of ferrous iron when compared with that of manganese. Accordingly, aeration of the water column in hypoxic conditions lead to a significant decrease in ferrous iron concentrations (in our case reaching zero). However, manganese and total iron levels were not affected by the aeration of the water column. Alkalinity level of the water column was observed to have a great effect on the solubility of iron and manganese. Concentrations of total Fe and total Mn measured for acidic (pH = 5) conditions were considerably greater than concentrations measured at neutral conditions. As for alkaline (pH = 11) conditions, the opposite was observed with measured concentrations of total Fe and total Mn being lower than the ones measured for neutral conditions. Thermal stratification had an enhancing effect on the solubility of both iron and manganese ions. While aeration of the stratified water column slightly decreased the concentrations of Total Fe and Mn, it had a greater impact on decreasing $Fe^{2+}$ concentrations.