Effects of Emission Characteristics on Elemental Composition of Selected PVC Ceiling Materials

Abstract

This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets especially during service. This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets. The emission data and elemental structure gave insight to appraise their suitability as ceiling materials. Three PVC ceiling materials were used for this analysis: Nigerian made PVC, layered Composite PVC and white PVC. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) was performed to obtain the elemental structure of the ceiling materials using Ion Beam Analysis facility. 0.05 kg of the samples were combusted in a controlled fire chamber and the gasses emitted; CO, SO2, NO, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were identified using four gas analyzers. Elements were detected in total and data collected from the experiment were analyzed. Results showed that Nigerian made PVC has the highest total noxious gas among the three samples with value of 3732.5 ppm while layered composite PVC has the lowest among the PVCs with the value of 1477.5 ppm. The elemental make-ups of the samples influence their emission characteristics. The study established that PVC samples were noxious in terms of their emission characteristics due to the effects of their elemental basis.