How to determine the level of carbon monoxide

pollution indoors and reduce its impact

Christian Paskah Wilmar, Eko David Kurniawan, Firman Yudha Pratama
Departemen Teknik Nuklir dan Teknik Fisika, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Abstract: The level of air pollution in the room can be determined by calculating the mass of
pollutant gas contained in the air in the room. One type of pollutant gas is carbon monoxide (CO)
gas. Calculation of CO gas levels follows the law of mass balance which is the application of the
law of conservation, where the mass that enters is the same as the mass that comes out and the
mass accumulated in the system. From this problem, a mathematical model is made in the form of
linear algebraic equations, which are represented in the form of a matrix. The matrix is then solved
by the Gauss Elimination method to obtain the value of CO gas concentrations contained in the air
in each room.

I. Introduction

In the engineering practice, system behavior can be modeled into mathematical equations.
The number of mathematical equations to model the behavior of the system often amounts to more
than one and must be completed simultaneously or simultaneously (simultaneously). For example,
in the field of environmental engineering and analysis, to determine the level of indoor air
pollution, it can be modeled into linear algebraic equations following the law of mass balance.
The law of mass balance is the application of the law of conservation of mass. By
calculating the amount of material entering and leaving the system, mass flow can be identified.
In the case of calculating the level of air pollution in a closed room, the calculated mass is the
amount of carbon monoxide (CO) gas contained in the air in the room. The greater the content of
CO gas, the higher the level of air pollution, meaning that the air in the room is polluted and may
endanger health. Conversely, the smaller the CO gas concentration, the lower the air pollution in
the room. CO gas can be produced from cigarette smoke, motor vehicle fumes, or from the smoke
produced by an incomplete combustion process.
Here, the case study used was the calculation of air pollution levels in a restaurant rooms
located next to the highway.
II. Basic Theories
Mass Balance

The law of mass balance, or often referred to as the law of material conservation, is the
application of the law of conservation of mass to the analysis of physical systems. By calculating
the amount of material entering and leaving the system, mass flow can be identified and calculated.
The exact eternity law used in the analysis of a system depends on the context of the problem, but
all of them still revolve around the law of conservation of mass, that everything cannot be
eliminated or created spontaneously. Mass balance is often used in environmental engineering and
analysis. For example, the mass balance theory is used to design chemical chancellors, to analyze
alternative processes for producing chemicals, or to model the spread of pollution and other
physical system processes. Mass balance states that "the size of the mass that enters the system,
based on the law of conservation of mass, must be balanced between the mass leaving the system
and the mass that remains (accumulates) in the system". Mathematically, mass balance for a system
without any chemical reaction can be written as follows:
Input = Output + Accumulation

This equation also applies to systems with chemical reactions if the term equilibrium refers
to the total mass, which is the sum of all kinds of chemicals in the system. In systems where there
is no chemical reaction, the amount of the kinds of chemicals that enter and exit will be the same;
so that any type of chemical that appears in the system will increase the equation, whereas every
type of chemical that leaves the system reduces the equation.

III. Methods and Calculation

Gauss Elimination

Gauss elimination method is the steps to eliminate matrix A into the upper triangular matrix
as follows :

So, the settlement of these equations can be calculated by backward substitution :

 Gauss elimination method in principle aims to transform Ax = b matrix into Ux matrix
= y, where U is the upper triangular matrix. Furthermore, solution x can be calculated by backward
substitution. The initial step is to combine matrix A elements and column b vectors into one
augmented matrix:

Eliminated to [U, y]

Signs (1), (2), (3) indicate that the matrix element has changed one, two, or three times.
The elimination process consists of three elementary line operations:
1. Exchange: the order of rows of two equations can be exchanged, because the exchange will not
affect the final solution.
2. Scaling: one line of equations can be multiplied by nonzero constants, because the multiplication
does not affect the final solution.
3. Replacement: the equation can be replaced by summing the equation with another equation of
scale.

The value of ak,k in the position (k, k) used to eliminate xk on the line k + 1, k + 2, ..., n is
called the pivot element (diagonal matrix) and the equation on the k-line is called the pivot
equation. The pivot element may be zero, so even division with zero may occur. Elimination
strategies that do not pay attention to the pivot value are called naive or simple strategies, so this
elimination method is called Gauss-Naive elimination. Whereas the elimination method that takes
into account the pivot value is called Gauss-Pivot elimination. Strategy used to solve the indoor
air pollution calculation case in this paper using the Gauss-Naive elimination method.
 The case study used in this paper is the calculation of indoor air pollution levels. The room
in question can be a room in a house, office, or other room. Pollution levels are calculated based
on the amount of pollutant gas concentration contained in the air in the room. Pollutant gases can
vary, one of which is used in this case study is carbon monoxide (CO) gas. CO gas is pollutant
because if this gas is lived by humans, it will interfere with the binding of oxygen to the blood.
CO gas is more easily bound to blood than oxygen and other gases. In the case of blood
contaminated with CO gas in levels of 70% to 80% can cause death. So in this case study, the level
of air pollution is measured by the amount of CO gas in the air in the room. The source of CO gas
comes from cigarette smoke, vehicle smoke, and incomplete combustion fumes. Suppose there is
a restaurant located on the edge of the highway, has three rooms: one special room for smoking
(smoking area), call it Room 1; one special room for children and non-smoking areas, refer to as
Room 2; and one another room that extends, which is partitioned into two, refer to as partition 3
and partition 4, partition 3 is the location of the kitchen, where there is a burning process in the
location (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Floor plan, mass concentration of CO gas, and air flow

The level of air pollution is calculated from the level of CO gas in the air in each room.
Room 1 has a CO gas source from smokers, while Partition 3, CO gas is sourced from the smoke
of an incomplete combustion process. Room 1 and Room 2 also get additional sources of CO gas
from vehicle fumes contained in the outside air entering through the ventilation, as a result of its
location next to the highway.
From Figure 1 above, a one-way arrow represents a volumetric air flow, while a two-way
arrow represents the diffusion of mixing. Smokers and incomplete combustion become a source
of CO gas to the system.
Variables involved:
C = CO gas content per unit volume (mg / m3)
Q = flow of air volume per hour (m3 / hr)
W = CO gas concentration (mg / day)
E = diffusion of inter-room air mixing (m3 / hr)
 Flow Chart

Start

Define Variable Involved

Form Linier Algebaric Equation

for each room

Express the Equation

to the form of a matrix

Solve the equation using

Gauss Elimination method

The
equation N
solved

Convert the result to

Histogram

Stop

Based on Flow Chart above, tto solve the above problem, we can do it by following the
law of mass balance, a linear algebraic equation is formed for CO gas concentration in each room,
as follows:
- Qa.Ca = CO gas concentration that enters Room 1 (inflow)
- Qa.C1 = the concentration of CO gas coming out of Room 1 (outflow)
- E13 (C3 - C1) = concentration of in and out of Room 1 and Room 3 (mixing)
 Next, in the same way, for the other rooms obtained the following equation:
Room 2:
0 = (Qa – Qd).C4 + E24 (C4 – C2) + Qb.Cb – Qc.C2
Partition 3:
0 = Wgrill + Qa.C1 + E13 (C1 – C3) + E34 (C4 – C3) – Qa.C3
Partition 4:
0 = Qa.C3 + E34 (C3 – C4) – (Qa - Qd).C4 + E24 (C2 – C4) – Qd.C4

By substituting each parameter, the equation for each room is obtained as follows:
Room 1:
0 = Wsmoker + Qa.Ca – Qa.C1 + E13 (C3 – C1)
0 = 1000 mg/hr + 200 m3/hr . 2 mg/m3 – 200 m3/hr . C1 + 25 m3/hr (C3 – C1)
0 = 1000 mg/hr + 400 mg/ hr – 200 m3/hr . C1 + 25 m3/hr . C3 – 25 m3/hr . C1
0 = 1400 mg/hr – 225 m3/hr . C1 + 25 m3/hr . C3

or 225 m3/hr . C1 - 25 m3/hr . C3 = 1400 mg/hr

Room 1:
0 = Wsmoker + Qa.Ca – Qa.C1 + E13 (C3 – C1)
Where:
-Wsmoker = the concentration of CO gas produced by smoker (load)
Room 2:
0 = (Qa – Qd).C4 + E24 (C4 – C2) + Qb.Cb – Qc.C2
0 = (200 m3/hr - 100 m3/hr) . C4 + 25 m3/hr (C4 – C2) + 50 m3/hr . 2 mg/m3 - 150 m3/hr . C2
0 = 100 m3/hr . C4 + 25 m3/hr . C4 – 25 m3/hr . C2 + 100 mg/hr - 150 m3/hr . C2
0 = 125 m3/hr . C4 – 175 m3/hr . C2 + 100 mg/hr

or
175 m3/hr . C2 - 125 m3/hr . C4 = 100 mg/hr
Partition 3:
0 = Wgrill + Qa.C1 + E13 (C1 – C3) + E34 (C4 – C3) – Qa.C3

0 = 2000 mg/hr + 200 m3/hr . C1 + 25 m3/hr (C1 – C3) + 50 m3/hr (C4 – C3) - 200 m3/hr . C3

0 = 2000 mg/hr + 200 m3/hr . C1 + 25 m3/hr . C1 – 25 m3/hr . C3 + 50 m3/hr . C4 – 50 m3/hr .C3 - 200
m3/hr . C3

0 = 2000 mg/hr + 225 m3/hr . C1 – 275 m3/hr . C3 + 50 m3/hr . C4

or
-225 m3/hr . C1 + 275 m3/hr . C3 - 50 m3/hr . C4 = 2000 mg/hr

Partition 4:
0 = Qa.C3 + E34 (C3 – C4) – (Qa - Qd).C4 + E24 (C2 – C4) – Qd.C4

0 = 200 m3/hr . C3 + 50 m3/hr (C3 – C4) – (200 m3/hr - 100 m3/hr) . C4 + 25 m3/hr (C2 – C4) - 100 m3/hr
. C4

0 = 200 m3/hr . C3 + 50 m3/hr . C3 – 50 m3/hr . C4 – 100 m3/hr . C4 + 25 m3/hr . C2 – 25 m3/hr . C4 - 100

m3/hr . C4

0 = 250 m3/hr . C3 – 275 m3/hr . C4 + 25 m3/hr . C2

or
-25 m3/hr . C2 - 250 m3/hr . C3 + 275 m3/hr . C4 = 0 mg/hr

So the problem now is to solve four equations with four CO gas concentrations in each
room (C1, C2, C3, and C4) which are unknown. The equation is expressed in the form of a
matrix as follows:
IV. Result

From these results, obtained results that the concentration of CO gas in Room 1 is 8.099617
mg / day, in Room 2 is 12,344,828 mg / day, in Partition 3 is 16.896552 mg / day, and in Partition
4 is 16,482,759 mg / day.
These results indicate that it turns out that Partition 3 and Partition 4 have the highest level of air
pollution, then Room 2, and the lowest level of pollution
precisely in Room 1, even though the room is a smoking area. This is because:
- CO gas is conservative

- The air outlet comes out only in Room 2 (Qc) and Bulkhead 4 (Qd)

- Partition 3 has the highest level of air pollution because in addition to obtaining CO gas sources
from an incomplete combustion process, also get additional CO gas from Room 1.
Based on WHO standards, air is said to be polluted by carbon monoxide gas if it contains
5-200 ppm ( 5 – 200 mg CO/ 1 kg air ). Based on the data, it can be ascertained that the air inside
the restaurant classified as polluted air. The highest concentration in our data is 16.896552 mg/day.
Based on the air threshold value released by Ir. Teti Syahrulyati, MSi the impact that can be caused
by carbon-polluted air with these levels are respiratory problems, central nervous system disorders,
and sensory disorders.
V. Conclusion

Calculation of air pollution in the room can be made mathematically in the form of linear
algebraic equations which are made to follow the law of mass balance. The equation is then
changed in the form of a matrix. To calculate the solution of the problem of linear equations, one
of them can be solved by the Gauss elimination method.
From the case studies used, the order of rooms that have the highest level of air pollution
(CO gas content is greatest) to the lowest pollution level (CO gas content is the least) are Partition
3, Partition 4, Room 2, and finally Room 1. Based on the conclusion, we offer a solution that can
be used to reduce carbon monoxide levels in this restaurant because the highest concentration in
the restaurant has an adverse effect on health. In general the value of carbon monoxide
concentration in a closed place is greater than in an open place. This happens because of limited
space in a closed place so that air movement is limited, while in the open carbon monoxide can
spread so that the carbon monoxide concentration is small. Based on this we provide simple
solutions such as better air quality management in the room. To do that you can do several things
such as isolating and circulate air in the smoking section outside the house, Optimization of room
air ventilation, Indoor CO gas is reduced with Exhaust fan outside the room, Prepare a special
place to bake and grill in the kitchen so that the smoke can be directly thrown out of the room,
Arrange ornamental plants as enhancers of beauty while breaking down CO gas
VI. References
[1] R. Munir, Metode Numerik untuk Teknik Informatika (Diktat kuliah). Institut Teknologi Bandung, 2010.

[2] S. C. Chapra, Applied Numerical Methods with Matlab for Engineers and Scientists, 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

[3] Anonim, Mass Balance, diakses dari https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Mass_balance, tanggal 06 Oktober 2018.

[4] Anonim, Pencemaran Udara Oleh Gas CO (Karbon Monoksida),

diakses dari http://indonesiakimia.blogspot.com/2011/05/ pencemaran-udara-oleh-gas-co-karbon.html?m=1, diakses pada 06 Oktober 2018.

[5] Arya Wardana, Wisnu, 2001:118-120, Dampak Pencemaran Lingkungan. Yogyakarta. Penerbit: Andi.