Marko M Hyttinen

• PhD
• Lecturer at University of Eastern Finland

Landfill gas (LFG) is formed by microorganisms within a landfill; it can be utilized as a renewable fuel in power plants. Impurities such as hydrogen sulfide and siloxanes can cause significant damage to gas engines and turbines. The aim of this study was to determine the filtration efficiencies of biochar products made of birch and willow to remov...

Biocomposites (BCs) can be used as substitutes for unsustainable polymers in 3D printing, but their safety demands additional investigation as biological fillers may produce altered emissions during thermal processing. Commercial filament extruders can be used to produce custom feedstocks, but they are another source for airborne contaminants and d...

Swimming pools and spas require a high hygiene level, and therefore constant cleaning. In this study, cleaning workers’ exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), trichloramine (TCA), and particulate matter (PM) in the swimming pools and spas were evaluated. Also, statistical methods were employed to determine what activities affect the exposur...

Photopolymer resins are applied at an increasing rate in additive manufacturing (AM) industry as vat photopolymerization (VP) and material jetting (MJ) methods gain more popularity. The aim of this study was to measure volatile organic compound (VOC), carbonyl compound, ultrafine particle (UFP), and particulate matter (PM10) air concentrations emit...

The alterations in volatile organic compound (VOC) and ultrafine particulate (UFP) matter emission profiles following thermal reprocessing of multiple materials were examined. Additionally, mechanical performance of the materials was studied. The VOCs were identified by collecting air samples with Tenax® TA tubes and analyzing them with a GC–MS sys...

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of intervention strategies to control mass concentrations and peak exposures of flour dust in two Finnish bakeries. The effect of the intervention on the proportion of various particle size fractions of the total particulate matter was also investigated. Methods. Mass concentr...

This study assessed the pyrolysis liquids obtained by slow pyrolysis of industrial hemp leaves, hurds, and roots. The liquids recovered between a pyrolysis temperature of 275–350 °C, at two condensation temperatures 130 °C and 70 °C, were analyzed. Aqueous and bio-oil pyrolysis liquids were produced and analyzed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance...

In this study, volatile organic compounds (VOC) were measured from 47 hospital rooms to determine the most suitable sampling location for VOCs indoors. Another goal was to find out the most predominant VOCs and their emission per floor area in a hospital environment. Three samples were taken from each room simultaneously, one from the center of the...

For many antibacterial polymer fibres, especially for those with natural functional additives, the antibacterial response might not last over time. Moreover, the mechanical performance of polymeric fibres degrades significantly during the intended operation, such as usage in textile and industrial filter applications. The degradation process and ov...

Use of an LES flow solver produces smoke that is more realistic than that given by a URANS solver. Here, smoke represents the concentration of a VOC emitted from a point source after t = 0.

Interaction of two flow features can be visualized using smokes with different colors. Here, white smoke is clean inlet air and red smoke is VOC emitted after t = 0. VOC mixed in the inlet air can be seen as red hue in the white smoke. Turning of the video image helps in perceiving the 3D structure. The video is based on a URANS flow simulation.

Simulated smoke video illustrating the throw pattern of inlet devices in a hospital ward room. The insert shows an experimental smoke test. The simulated video is based on an LES numerical flow model and is sped up by a factor of 5.

A URANS simulation demonstrating two different strategies to apply simulated smoke. Simulated tracer gas is dosed into the inlet air starting at t = 0. Normally, new air arrived after t = 0 would be seen as smoke. When using inverted transparency scale, however, old air is seen as smoke. This way, the positions with the highest mean age of air are...

The purpose of this chapter is to present the basic features of air-handling processes, relevant technologies and equipment. This chapter aims to provide links between the basic theories of air-handling processes and the actual equipment, including air filters, heat exchangers, and fans. This revised chapter deals with the basic air-handling proces...

Spreading and distribution of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released as point source emissions in a hospital environment were investigated in two office rooms and two patient rooms. Six tracer compounds were released from six locations and their concentrations were measured in five sampling sites during two consecutive days. The air fl...

Disinfection chemicals are needed in swimming pools to control formation and spreading of pathogenic microorganisms between swimmers. Disinfection by-products (DBP) are formed when disinfectants such as chlorine or sodium hypochlorite have been introduced in to the water which contains organic or inorganic impurities. All the DBPs are considered to...

The floor polish removal (FPR) and reapplication (FPA) are important cleaning tasks in public buildings that have hard floor surfaces. Usually, the FPR and FPA are conducted once or twice a year, during the periodic cleaning of these buildings. The FPR can be performed either chemically (CFPR) or by using dry scrubber (DFPR), when the polish is gro...

The aim of this study was to measure the concentrations of gaseous and particulate contaminants originated from additive manufacturing operations and post-processes in an occupational setting when plastics were used as feedstock materials. Secondary aims were to evaluate the concentration levels based on proposed exposure limits and target values a...

In this case study, hospital workers did suffer from symptoms related to the poor indoor air quality. To investigate reasons for symptoms MM40- survey and house inspection methods were performed. The study consisted of 49 operating rooms and 470 employees. MM-40 survey revealed that over 40% of the staff suffered from skin reactions, over 50% had u...

Cleaning sector employs a huge number of workers worldwide. Millions of professional cleaners maintain cleanliness of surfaces in public buildings such as offices, schools, and hospitals, worldwide. Cleaning work is divided into everyday maintenance cleaning called upkeep cleaning and once or twice a year made periodic cleaning. The periodic cleani...

In ventilated rooms, contaminants are spread by airflows, driven by heat sources and ventilation jets. Thus, to predict a VOC distribution, we have to simulate the room airflows using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The simulation should be time-accurate to capture the spreading mechanisms and concentration fluctuations. Presentation of these r...

In this case study was to investigate how ventilation of the crawl space will influence on concentrations of radon, fungal spores and MVOCs in the crawl space and indoors of detached house. The crawl space pressurisation by exhaust air from indoors was successful to prevent the convective flow of radon from the soil, but it increased microbial grow...

Sisäilmaoireilun on havaittu olevan sairaaloissa yleisempää kuin esim. toimistoissa /1/. Eräs mahdollinen selitys ovat VOCit (Volatile Organic Compounds), joiden koostumus ja pitoisuudet sairaaloissa poikkeavat toimistotiloissa havaituista. VOCien esiintymistä sairaalaympäristössä on kuitenkin tutkittu varsin vähän. Tätä tarkoitusta varten käynnist...

In many public buildings, ventilation is turned off or the air-change rate is decreased during night time. However, this may cause indoor pollutants to accumulate into the air. The aim of this study was to investigate how turning the ventilation off during night time affects the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Finnish schools....

Use of biomass fuels (e.g. wood, cow dung and crop residue) for household accounts for 75% of households in the developing country (The World Resources Institute, 1998). The incomplete burning of these fuels with the poor ventilation of houses exposes residents to the hazardous air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide,...

The ventilation performance of airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) was assessed in three Finnish hospitals by examining the air change rate, contaminant removal efficiency and leakage of contaminants outside the isolation room by using tracer gas techniques. Results showed that infectious agents can escape from the AIIR during egress despite...

Background: Indoor air quality has been identified as a significant determinant of health and comfort. Recent development of energy efficient buildings and corresponding tightening building regulations including requirements for sufficient ventilation and control of indoor air quality internationally and nationally potentially provide means for imp...

Ventilation guidelines for airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) are highly variable in different countries indicating lack of actual knowledge about the guidance needed. However, US guidelines for AIIRs are extensive and have been widely adopted outside the US. AIIR performance has also been evaluated in numerous studies. For a long time, the...

Heat-treated wood is an increasingly popular decoration material. Heat-treatment improves dimensional stability of the wood and also prevents rot fungus growth. Although production of heat-treated wood has been rapidly increasing, there is only little information about the VOC emissions of heat-treated wood and its possible influences on indoor air...

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are among the most abundant organic impurities in indoor air. Their concentrations are usually determined with dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-silica cartridge sampling with subsequent HPLC-analysis, which is a general method for carbonyls. Higher aldehydes can also be determined as VOCs with Tenax-sampling and GC-analys...

Used supply air filters were studied by sensory and chemical methods. In addition, filter dust was examined by thermodesorption/cold trap (TCT) and headspace (HS) devices connected to a GC–MS. The prefilter was the main odor source in the ventilation unit, but when humidifier was turned on odor was released mainly from the fine filter. However, the...

Ozone removal, concentration of ultra-fine particles (2 to 64 nm), and VOCs were measured on sooty ventilation filters. A F8 class filter loaded by diesel soot particles in a motor laboratory and a heavily loaded F5 class filter used for 8 months in a bus service terminal were used in the tests. In addition, both filters were saturated with alpha-p...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability and applicability of low-flow passive tubes for sampling of organic solvents in occupational environment. Laboratory and field studies were conducted to continue the evaluation of low-flow diffusive sampling combined with thermal desorption and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis in...

Supply air filter dust was collected from two air handling units from suburban area of Helsinki and analyzed by thermodesorption/cold trap (TCT) and headspace (HS) gas chromatography (GC) mass spectrometers (MS). Part of the dust samples were exposed to ozone before emission analyses. Aldehydes, aromatic hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids, organic nitr...

Used filters from two office buildings were tested in laboratory for odor intensity and organic compounds released into air. Consistently with the earlier observations, a clear increase was found in the odor intensity while the air passed the filters. At low relative humidity of air, this change was observed already after the prefilter, and no furt...

The removal of ozone (O3) on supply air filters was studied. Especially, the effects of dust load, diesel soot, relative humidity (RH), and exposure time on the removal of O3 were investigated. Some loss of O3 was observed in all the filters, except in an unused G3 pre-filter made of polyester. Dust load and quality influenced the reduction of O3;...

When supply air passes through a filter, ozone and other oxidants may react with the dust and with the compounds adsorbed on it causing decomposition of ozone and producing oxidation products. These reactions have been studied on nine used supply air filters in the laboratory. Some consumption of ozone was observed in almost all the filters. The ch...

Adsorption and desorption properties of the dust accumulated on air filters were examined by using a small-scale test apparatus with model compounds. The dust samples were loaded with the model compounds either by adsorption from a constant concentration in air flow or by direct injection into the dust. Desorption was measured at three different re...