AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Design and Evaluation of Micro-Well Collector for Personal Aerosol Exposure Monitor
HE JIAYANG, Makhsous Sep, Igor Novosselov, University of Washington
Abstract Number: 692 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract Personal exposure monitoring is critical for evaluating particulate matter (PM), such as airborne pathogens, allergens, toxins, and their effect human health. High elution volumes, large size of the sampling setup and high power requirements limit the usefulness of the traditional filter collection methods in a variety of applications. We present a novel aerosol collection device (AeroSpec) with small form factor and low power consumption that can be used as a personal exposure monitor. AeroSpec collects PM in a low-cost collection cartridge by aerodynamically concentrating aerosol into a narrow beam that is directed into a micro-well particle trap. The micro-well cartridge is designed to capture airborne PM in the 0.75-5 micron size range and the sampling rates of 1-3 slpm. The primary aim of the design is to reduce the particle collection area for in-situ optical analysis and to increase the concentration of the sample in the elution volume. The combination of the aerodynamic focusing inlet and the optimized angle of the micro-well results in high concentration of collected PM in the submillimeter area inside the micro-well. The low-pressure drop of the collector enables power efficient operation of the AeroSpec sampler and the use of low-power vacuum pump. The micro-well cartridge performance was evaluated using monodisperse aerosols via bulk fluorescence method. Typical collection efficiencies are above 50 % for PM2.5 at 1 slpm sampling flow rate. The transparent collection substrate and the well-defined collection region independent of particle size allows for in-situ optical analysis of the collected PM. Sample elution can be performed via standard pipette tip interface; the elution volume is 10 to 20 microliters.