AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Laboratory Evaluation and Calibration of Three Low-cost Particle Sensors for Particulate Matter Measurement
Yang Wang, JIAYU LI, He Jing, Qiang Zhang, Jingkun Jiang, Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St Louis
Abstract Number: 258 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Compared to conventional instruments for particulate matter (PM) concentration measurements, particle sensors offer the significant advantages of compact size and low cost, and have drawn great attention during recent years in portable particle monitoring. However, due to the lack of a standardized calibration protocol, most sensor systems have not been thoroughly evaluated, and data quality is not well documented. In this work, three low-cost particle sensors based on light scattering (Shinyei PPD42NS, Samyoung DSM501A, and Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F) were evaluated by calibration methods adapted from the US EPA 2013 Air Sensor Workshop recommendations. With a SidePak (TSI Inc.) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) as reference instruments, six performance aspects were examined: linearity of response, precision of measurement, limit of detection, dependence on particle composition, sensitivity to the particle size, and relative humidity (RH) and temperature influences. Throughout the experiments, GP2Y1010AU0F demonstrated the highest linearity against results measured by the SidePak. Some common characteristics were observed, such as saturated outputs under higher particle concentrations of around 4 milligram/m3, high dependence on the composition and size of particles, and minimal dependence on temperature. The applicability of the sensors in clean environments is low, since the standard deviations of the three tested sensors typically had values higher than 15 microgram/m3, which is above the EPA-regulated annual average PM2.5 index of 12 microgram/m3. Although less accurate than more complicated and expensive measurement devices, these particle sensors were still able to report particle concentrations with moderate linearity and repeatability. The compact size and low cost of the sensors favor their wide application in tracking air quality in developing countries and heavily polluted areas, where the demand for monitoring particulate matter is especially urgent for the sake of public health.