AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Development of a High Throughput Wind Tunnel Evaluation Method for Ultra-Coarse Inlet Testing
QUENTIN MALLOY, Andrew Dart, Jonathan Thornburg, Carlton Witherspoon, Zora Drake-Richmon, Jonathan Krug, Robert Vanderpool, RTI International
Abstract Number: 313 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract The current data concerning ambient Pb containing particle size distributions is sparse primarily due to complexities associated with sampling the “total” suspended particle concentrations. An exceedingly difficult aspect of “total” particle sampling is measurement of those particles with large aerodynamic diameters, termed ultra-coarse particles. Measurement of these ultra-coarse particles is difficult due to their inherently high inertia and sedimentation velocities. These aspects of ultra-coarse particles require application of specifically designed inlets with large geometries and operating at high flow rates. We have developed a method for generation and analysis of test atmospheres within a wind tunnel for analysis of an inlet sampling effectiveness particle sizes upwards of 30 micro-meters. CV’s for aerosol uniformity with our procedure for wind speeds up to 24 Km hr$^(-1) was less than 5 percent. Evaluation of two candidate inlets displayed fall-off sampling effectiveness beginning at approximately 5 micro-meters, with degree of fall-off being a function of inlet and wind speed.