Temperature influence on total volatile compounds (TVOCs) inside the car cabin of visible light transmittance

Abstract

In the automotive industry indoor air quality or Vehicle Indoor Air Quality (VIAQ) are caused by various substances emitted from interior materials inside a vehicle. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an example of emitted substances from the interior materials which is harmful to the human body. As stated by previous researches, there is a strong correlation between the total VOCs emission and interior temperature. This occurs due to the solar radiation through the back window glasses, windscreen and side window glasses. This trapped heat can accelerate the melting process of trim materials such as hard plastic and rubber, thus causing the emission of total VOCs (TVOCs). Therefore, reducing the percentage of visible light transmittance (VLT) will help to reduce radiation process. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of VLT level on TVOCs emission in the vehicle cabin under static condition (parked and unventilated) and operating condition (driving and air-conditioned). For static condition the result shows that the TVOCs concentration linearly decreases whenever the percentage of VLT level decreases. However, for operating condition the percentage of VLT have less significance after 50 minutes driving time. In conclusion, the VLT levels have a strong relationship to the TVOCs concentration despite after a long driving time.