AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Tianren Wu, Ph.D. Student, Seeking Postdoctoral Position
TIANREN WU, Purdue University
Abstract Number: 787 Working Group: Meet the Job Seekers
Abstract I am a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering at Purdue University conducting research on indoor and urban aerosols and indoor air quality. I will complete my Ph.D. studies in May 2020. I enjoy research on aerosol characterization using state-of-art techniques. I would like to continue novel research on aerosol science as a post-doctoral scholar in academia or at a national laboratory.
My doctoral research is aimed at characterizing aerosol and VOC dynamics in buildings and their HVAC systems. The first phase of my research is focused on measurement of bioaerosols using online laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques. I evaluated infant crawling-induced resuspension of bioaerosol using a mechanical crawling infant and characterized the impact of occupants on bioaerosol emissions and size distributions in a realistic office environment. Next, I investigated indoor new particle formation (NPF) and measured the size distributions of sub-3 nm aerosol in an occupied office under different building ventilation modes. Real-time measurements of VOCs were also conducted using PTR-TOF-MS to probe human- and non-human-related emissions and the interactions of VOCs with aerosols and surfaces. As the HVAC system plays an important role in shaping indoor chemistry, a multi-location VOC sampling system was developed to characterize VOC deposition onto HVAC filters and duct surfaces. The third part of my research is on the evaluation of the in-situ performance of HVAC filters in their removal of aerosols from 1.5 nm to 20 μm in a full-scale building ventilation duct. The morphological features and phase state (bounce factors) of the aerosols are monitored online to understand their impact on filtration performance.
I am familiar with the measurement and analysis of VOCs using an IONICON PTR-TOF-MS, measurement of sub-3 nm aerosol with a Half-mini DMA and Airmodus nCNC, characterization of aerosol morphological features and charging state using DMA-CPMA and DMA-ELPI+ setups, and investigating aerosol phase state via bounce factors measured by an ELPI+. I have a great passion for lab experiments. In the future, I would like to learn advanced skills and conduct lab and field experiments to probe aerosol formation and their interaction with gas-phase species.