Vertical concentration distributions of atmospheric particulates in typical seasons of winter and summer during working and non-working days: A case study of high-rise buildings

Abstract

It is important to understand the vertical distribution characteristics of outdoor particulates concentration in typical seasons of winter and summer when people?s living spaces are getting higher and higher above the ground. The different heights of floors (1st, 7th, 11th, 17th, and 27th) of a high-rise building in Xi?an at 8:00 a. m., 12:00 a. m., 3:00 p. m., 6:00 p. m., and 10:00 p. m., respectively, were tested and analyzed in this paper. The results showed that the concentrations on non-working days were much lower than that on working days at different times and on different floors, and the concentrations of particulates were relatively low in summer. The particulates reached the highest at 12:00 a. m. in summer, with the average concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 were 37.3 ?g/m3, 31.6 ?g/m3, and 29.4 ?g/m3. While reached the highest at 3:00 p. m. in winter, with the average concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 were 82.4 ?g/m3, 64.8 ?g/m3, and 57.7 ?g/m3. The distribution of atmospheric environment in Xi?an is mainly dominated by small particulates. The particle sizes of low floors are mainly range from 1.0 ?m to 2.5 ?m, and the high floors are less than 1.0 ?m. With the increase of floors and time, PM1.0/PM2.5 and PM2.5/PM10 show a trend of first decreasing and then increasing on working days, while PM1.0/PM2.5 and PM2.5/PM10 show a trend of first increasing, then decreasing and next increasing on non-working days. In addition, outdoor meteorological parameters will also have a certain impact on particulates concentration distribution. It provides reference values for controlling the particulates concentration in high-rise buildings.