INCHEM-Py v1.2: A community box model for indoor air chemistry

TY - JOUR

T1 - INCHEM-Py v1.2

T2 - A community box model for indoor air chemistry

AU - Shaw, David

AU - Carter, Toby

AU - Davies, Helen

AU - Harding-Smith, Ellen

AU - Beel, Georgia

AU - Crocker, Elliot

AU - Wang, Zixu

AU - Carslaw, Nicola

N1 - © Author(s) 2023. Preprint. Discussion started: 3 July 2023

PY - 2023/12/21

Y1 - 2023/12/21

N2 - The Indoor CHEMical model in Python, INCHEM-Py, is an open-source and accessible box model for the simulation of the indoor atmosphere, and is a refactor and significant development of the INdoor Detailed Chemical Model (INDCM). INCHEM-Py creates and solves a system of coupled ordinary differential equations that include gas-phase chemistry, surface deposition, indoor/outdoor air change, indoor photolysis processes and gas-to-particle partitioning for three common terpenes. It is optimised for ease of installation and simple modification for inexperienced users, while also providing unfettered access to customise the physical and chemical processes for more advanced users. A detailed user manual is included with the model and updated with each version release. In this paper, INCHEM-Py v1.2 is introduced, the modelled processes are described in detail, with benchmarking between simulated data and published experimental results presented, alongside discussion of the parameters and assumptions used. It is shown that INCHEM-Py achieves excellent agreement with measurements from two experimental campaigns which investigate the effects of people and different surfaces on the concentrations of different indoor air pollutants. In addition, INCHEM-Py shows closer agreement to experimental data than INDCM. This is due to the increased functionality of INCHEM-Py to model additional processes, such as deposition-induced surface emissions. Published community use-cases of INCHEM-Py are also presented to show the variety of applications for which this model is valuable to further our understanding of indoor air chemistry.

AB - The Indoor CHEMical model in Python, INCHEM-Py, is an open-source and accessible box model for the simulation of the indoor atmosphere, and is a refactor and significant development of the INdoor Detailed Chemical Model (INDCM). INCHEM-Py creates and solves a system of coupled ordinary differential equations that include gas-phase chemistry, surface deposition, indoor/outdoor air change, indoor photolysis processes and gas-to-particle partitioning for three common terpenes. It is optimised for ease of installation and simple modification for inexperienced users, while also providing unfettered access to customise the physical and chemical processes for more advanced users. A detailed user manual is included with the model and updated with each version release. In this paper, INCHEM-Py v1.2 is introduced, the modelled processes are described in detail, with benchmarking between simulated data and published experimental results presented, alongside discussion of the parameters and assumptions used. It is shown that INCHEM-Py achieves excellent agreement with measurements from two experimental campaigns which investigate the effects of people and different surfaces on the concentrations of different indoor air pollutants. In addition, INCHEM-Py shows closer agreement to experimental data than INDCM. This is due to the increased functionality of INCHEM-Py to model additional processes, such as deposition-induced surface emissions. Published community use-cases of INCHEM-Py are also presented to show the variety of applications for which this model is valuable to further our understanding of indoor air chemistry.

U2 - 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1328

DO - 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1328

M3 - Article

SN - 1991-959X

VL - 15

JO - Geoscientific Model Development

JF - Geoscientific Model Development

M1 - 778

ER -