AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
A One-Nanometer, Water-Based Laminar-Flow Condensation Particle Counter
SUSANNE HERING, Gregory Lewis, Steven Spielman, Chongai Kuang, Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez, Nathan Kreisberg, Aerosol Dynamics Inc.
Abstract Number: 568 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract A new, water-based condensation particle counter has been developed to detect particles in the 1-nm size range. This nano-WCPC is a laminar flow instrument, and uses a three-stage growth tube system. Flow at 0.3 L/min passes through a wet walled tube, the first portion of which is cooled to 1 °C, the second portion is heated to 90-96 °C, and the third is cooled to 32 °C. The optics are held at 50 °C. The warmed second portion provides the water vapor to create the supersaturation necessary for particle activation, while the third stage removes much of the excessive water vapor while maintaining the supersaturation. Modeling indicates Kelvin diameters approaching 0.9 nm. Calibrations with molecular ions and ammonium sulfate aerosol demonstrate detection of negatively charged particles with mobility diameters as small as 1.1nm.