Measured Pollutant Performance of Island Overhead Kitchen Exhaust

Cooking is one of the most substantial sources of indoor air pollution in most residences.  This is mitigated most often by exhaust devices located near cooking surfaces.  In this study, we measured the efficacy of one type of kitchen ventilation device: an island overhead kitchen exhaust.  Laboratory tests using tracer gas capture were performed on a full-scale mock-up of a kitchen with a cooktop in an island. The results show that the Capture Efficiency (CE) varies greatly from about 10% to nearly 100%.  CE generally increased with exhaust flow rate, but results did not show clear trends when changing hood mounting height or the power input to the cooktop burners. Burner power had an effect on measured capture efficiency of the same magnitude as exhaust flow rate. As with earlier work on wall-mount exhaust hoods, these results indicate that standardized testing will have to clearly specify mounting heights, power input (and or temperatures) and the geometry of the tracer gas emitter.