AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
A Novel Glass Chamber for Studies of Aerosol Dynamics and Interactions
YEVGEN NAZARENKO, Parisa A. Ariya, McGill University
Abstract Number: 409 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract Aerosol dynamics and interactions involving (1) airborne particles, including anthropogenic particulate air pollutants, (2) bioaerosols, and (3) gaseous atmospheric constituents and pollutants is of major importance in the context of climate processes and atmospheric air pollution. Important determinants involved are the physico-chemical nature, structure of particles and their surface, atmospheric processing and interfacing with other atmospheric constituents under various environmental conditions influencing particle formation, growth, aging and fate.
Studies of the above-mentioned interactions may be performed in simulated environments inside aerosol chambers. The challenges associated with such experimental setups include (1) minimization of aerosol particles’ and volatiles’ losses, (2) control of concentrations of aerosol components, (3) control of physical conditions including temperature, humidity and illumination, and (4) flow control into, inside and out of the chamber.
We developed a spherical glass aerosol chamber with single inlet and outlet where the in- and out-flow may be blocked by PTFE valves. Thus, the chamber can be used in static and flow-through modes. Two thin glass wells that house thermocouples are installed in the chamber and allow temperature monitoring in two points within the internal space. A special port with a septum is optionally used to hold a miniature temperature/relative humidity probe exposed to the internal aerosol space. The inside surface of the chamber may be covered with 15% acetone solution of halocarbon wax for minimization of particle and gas phase losses. The chamber setup is equipped with a modular gas/aerosol generation/dilution/mixing/injection system that allows delivery of a specific conditioned aerosol/gas mixture at a precise in-flow rate. The sampling modules connected to the chamber outlet provide for aerosol collection using an electrostatic precipitator for subsequent microscopic analysis, solid phase microextraction for gas chromatography mass spectrometry investigation, on-line mass spectrometry, among others.
The design and example experimental results will be presented to illustrate the applicability and performance of the developed system for research of air pollution, aerosol dynamics and gas/aerosol transformations.