The accuracy of the aerosol particle mass analyzer for nanoparticle classification

<p>The aerosol mass measurement method, DMA-APM, measures a lower mass as compared to the electrical mobility diameter-based particle mass for sub-50 nm nanoparticles. The extent of underestimation increases with decreasing nanoparticle diameter and can reach as much as 20–80% for different nanoparticles between 10–20 nm. To study this issue, the DMA-APM system was tested with traceable size standards (PSL and NanoSilica) and laboratory generated silver nanoparticles. It was found that the extent of mass underestimation depended on Brownian diffusion as well as the strength of the classifying forces, and the extent was quantified by a dimensionless parameter , which is suggested to be higher than 40 to eliminate the mass underestimation for size standards. Further analysis also showed that the uncertainty in the particle density of test nanoparticles should be as low as possible to minimize the error in the judgment on the accuracy of the APM. Finally, the absolute accuracy of the APM at different was determined by the size standards, which could be used to correct for the mass underestimation for sub-50 nm nanoparticles.</p> <p>Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research</p

Design and testing of the NCTU micro-orifice cascade impactor (NMCI) for the measurement of nanoparticle size distributions

<div><p>ABSTRACT</p><p>The NCTU micro-orifice cascade impactor (NMCI) was redesigned and tested to enable the measurement and adjustment of the jet-to-plate distance (S) of the impactors by using a micrometer. Each stage of the NMCI contains an impaction plate and a nozzle plate which are separated. The bottom casing for impaction plate assembly and the nozzle plate holder of each stage are separated. Calibration results show that the cutoff aerodynamic diameter (<i>d</i>_pa50) of the three lower stages (<i>d</i>_pa50 = 180, 100, and 56 nm) are close to the nominal values given in Marple et al. (1991). In addition, the S/W (W: nozzle diameter) effects on the <i>d</i>_pa50 for the three lower stages were investigated and an empirical equation was developed to facilitate the prediction of <i>d</i>_pa50 when the nozzle diameters may change slightly from one batch to another. The relationship between the nozzle diameter and pressure drop of the micro-orifice impactors at the fixed operational flow rate of 30 L/min was also established so that the nozzle diameters can be predicted from the pressure drop measurement. An empirical equation was proposed to express the correlation between the dimensionless cutoff size and the S/W ratio when considering isentropic flow to facilitate the design of micro-orifice impactors for S/W > 4. It is expected that the present NMCI could improve the accuracy of size-classification of submicron particles below 180 nm, especially for nanoparticles.</p></div

Novel Wire-on-Plate Electrostatic Precipitator (WOP-EP) for Controlling Fine Particle and Nanoparticle Pollution

A new wire-on-plate electrostatic precipitator (WOP-EP), where discharge wires are attached directly on the surface of a dielectric plate, was developed to ease the installation of the wires, minimize particle deposition on the wires, and lower ozone emission while maintaining a high particle collection efficiency. For a lab-scale WOP-EP (width, 50 mm; height, 20 mm; length, 180 mm) tested at the applied voltage of 18 kV, experimental total particle collection efficiencies were found as high as 90.9–99.7 and 98.8–99.9% in the particle size range of 30–1870 nm at the average air velocities of 0.50 m/s (flow rate, 30 L/min; residence time, 0.36 s) and 0.25 m/s (flow rate, 15 L/min; residence time, 0.72 s), respectively. Particle collection efficiencies calculated by numerical models agreed well with the experimental results. The comparison to the traditional wire-in-plate EP showed that, at the same applied voltage, the current WOP-EP emitted 1–2 orders of magnitude lower ozone concentration, had cleaner discharge wires after heavy particle loading in the EP, and recovered high particle collection efficiency after the grounded collection plate was cleaned. It is expected that the current WOP-EP can be scaled up as an efficient air-cleaning device to control fine particle and nanoparticle pollution

Optimization of sampling conditions to minimize sampling errors of both PM_2.5 mass and its semi-volatile inorganic ion concentrations

The accurate measurement of PM2.5 and its inorganic matters (IMs) is crucial for compliance monitoring and understanding particle formation. However, semi-volatile IMs (SVIMs) like NH4+, NO3− and Cl− tend to evaporate from particles, causing sampling artifacts. The evaporation loss occurs due to many factors making the quantitative prediction difficult. This study aimed to investigate the evaporation loss of SVIMs in PM2.5 under different sampling conditions. In the field tests, when a normal single Teflon filter sampler (STF), which is like a Federal Reference Method (FRM) sampler, was used to sample PM2.5 at ambient conditions, a significant SVIM evaporation loss was observed, resulting in negative biases for total IMs (-25.68 ± 3.25%) and PM2.5 concentrations (-9.87 ± 4.27%). But if PM2.5 was sampled by a chilled Teflon filter sampler (CTF) at 4 0C following aerosol dehumidification so that relative humidity (RH) was controlled to within the 10-20% range (RHd), evaporation loss was minimized with a bias of 2.5 based on the reference data. When RHd is below 10%, both IMs and PM2.5 are under-measured, but only PM2.5 is over-measured when RHd is >20%. A model considering predictable saturation ratios for NH4+, NO3− and Cl− under various pressure drop, temperature and RH conditions was developed to predict accurately the actual concentrations of PM2.5 and its SVIMs for the STF. Additionally, the ISORROPIA-II model predicted SVIMs effectively for the CTF. In summary, using the CTF at optimized sampling conditions can achieve accurate measurement of both SVIMs and PM2.5 concentrations simultaneously.</p

Novel Active Personal Nanoparticle Sampler for the Exposure Assessment of Nanoparticles in Workplaces

A novel active personal nanoparticle sampler (PENS), which enables the collection of both respirable particulate mass (RPM) and nanoparticles (NPs) simultaneously, was developed to meet the critical demand for personal sampling of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in workplaces. The PENS consists of a respirable cyclone and a micro-orifice impactor with the cutoff aerodynamic diameter (<i>d</i>_pa50) of 4 μm and 100 nm, respectively. The micro-orifice impactor has a fixed micro-orifice plate (137 nozzles of 55 μm in the inner diameter) and a rotating, silicone oil-coated Teflon filter substrate at 1 rpm to achieve a uniform particle deposition and avoid solid particle bounce. A final filter is used after the impactor to collect the NPs. Calibration results show that the <i>d</i>_pa50 of the respirable cyclone and the micro-orifice impactor are 3.92 ± 0.22 μm and 101.4 ± 0.1 nm, respectively. The <i>d</i>_pa50 at the loaded micro-Al₂O₃ mass of 0.36–3.18 mg is shifted to 102.9–101.2 nm, respectively, while it is shifted to 98.9–97.8 nm at the loaded nano-TiO₂ mass of 0.92–1.78 mg, respectively. That is, the shift of <i>d</i>_pa50 due to solid particle loading is small if the PENS is not overloaded.Both NPs and RPM concentrations were found to agree well with those of the IOSH respirable cyclone and MOUDI. By using the present PENS, the collected samples can be further analyzed for chemical species concentrations besides gravimetric analysis to determine the actual exposure concentrations of ENMs in both RPM and NPs fractions in workplaces, which are often influenced by the background or incident pollution sources