AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Design and Performance of Low-cost Aerosol Micro-Channel Collector
IGOR NOVOSSELOV, Riley Gorder, John Scott Meschke, Enertechnix, Inc
Abstract Number: 555 Working Group: Bioaerosols: Characterization and Environmental Impact
Abstract Bio-aerosol detection and identification is vital for assessment and control of airborne pathogens, allergens and toxins. A low-cost bio-aerosol collector was developed and tested at flow rates of 1- 3 slpm. Unsteady, 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was used to develop and optimize the designs of the micro-Channel Collector (micro-CC). The collector can be readily integrated with microfluidic detection devices where a variety of assays may be performed. The performance of the low-cost collector has been validated in laboratory studies using polystyrene spheres, single organism bacterial spores (Bacillus subtilis). Collection efficiency tests of the sampler were performed in a well-mixed aerosol chamber using aerosolized fluorescent microspheres in the 0.8 to 5 micro-meter diameter range. The samples were collected in the micro-CC and eluted into a 100 microliter liquid volume. Culture and PCR methods were used to determine the performance of the biological aerosols. Typical efficiencies of the sampler are 50 % for 0.5 micro-meter particles and 90% for particles larger than 1 micro-meter. The experimental results agree with the CFD modeling, showing that concentration and capture efficiency of polystyrene spheres and microorganisms are a function of their aerodynamic diameters.