Environmental & Climate Sciences Department Seminar

"Classifying Aerosol Particles with a Centrifugal Particle Mass Analyzer (CPMA)"

Presented by Kristen Okorn, Stevens Institute of Technology (SULI Student Summer 2017)

Thursday, July 27, 2017, 11:00 am — Conference Room Bldg 815E

Although wood stoves are a carbon-neutral renewable energy source, they are the largest source of particulate matter (PM) emissions in New York State. A Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA), which classifies particles by their mobility diameter, has traditionally been employed to characterize such particulate emissions. However, because the black carbon (BC) particles produced by combustion that contribute to PM are fractal, their mobility diameters are not equal to their mass-equivalent diameters. In contrast to the DMA, the Centrifugal Particle Mass Analyzer (CPMA) classifies aerosol particles by their mass, using two rotating cylinders and an electric potential; when the centrifugal and electrostatic forces on a particle are equal, it passes through. The CPMA can select particles with masses ranging from 2×10 4 to 1.05×103 fg (corresponding to diameters, for particles with density 1 g cm 3, ranging from 7 to 1300 nm). It can be operated in two different ways: the "Run" classification method can be used to select for a single particle mass, and the "Step Scan" method can be used to select particles over a set range of masses. A neutralizer must be used upstream of the CPMA to create a charge distribution on particles before they enter the instrument. A DMA can optionally be used to pre-select particles of a specific mobility diameter before entering the CPMA. Downstream of the instrument, a Condensation Particle Counter (CPC) must be used in order to determine the number concentration of particles that pass through the CPMA. The basic operating principles of the CPMA are discussed, and results are presented for its characterization of polystyrene latex (PSL) particles, ammonium sulfate particles, and emissions from a wood burning stove.

Hosted by: Ernie Lewis

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