10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Characterization of a Novel Miniature Inverted Burner for Soot Particle Generation
Alireza Moallemi, Mohsen Kazemimanesh, JOEL CORBIN, Gregory Smallwood, Jason S. Olfert, Prem Lobo, National Research Council Canada
Abstract Number: 1283 Working Group: Carbonaceous Aerosol
Abstract Carbonaceous particles generated by incomplete combustion can absorb light remarkably well and have a strong climate forcing potential. Additionally, there are substantial concerns about the negative effect of combustion generated carbonaceous particles on public health. The research community employ various types of combustion-based aerosol generators, to study the properties of these particles in laboratories. One such combustion-based aerosol generator is the inverted burner developed by Stipe et al. (2005), which has been proven to be a robust source for soot particle generation and was employed in various studies involving soot particle characterization and instrument calibration. Although this burner was extensively employed in lab-based studies, the relatively large dimensions of the burner make its handling difficult and limit its use in various applications, such as field calibration of aerosol
The miniature inverted burner (“mini-inverted burner”) is a modified design in which the size of the inverted burner has been substantially reduced. The main advantages of this burner are its portability, simplicity, low fuel consumption, and relatively low cost per unit compared to the other commercial portable soot generators. In this study, the general performance of the mini-inverted burner was examined using two different fuels: propane and ethylene, and the tests were performed at various air and fuel flow rates. The capability of the burner to generate particles in a stable and repeatable manner was investigated and its ability to produce particles with a variety of sizes and concentrations was demonstrated. In addition to the particle size distribution, other properties of generated aerosol particles, such as optical properties and the amount of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC), were measured. This study shows that the mini-inverted burner is capable of generating particles with a verity of mode sizes (120 nm to 200 nm), and number concentrations (~5×105 cm-3 to ~3×106 cm-3). Additionally, in some set-points the elemental to total carbon (EC/TC) ratio of the generated soot particles were found to be larger than 80%, which makes this burner ideal for producing carbonaceous particles with high EC to OC content.