AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Thermodynamic and Kinetic Behavior of the Glycerin/Propylene Glycol/H2O Aerosol System
TIMOTHY WRIGHT, Chen Song, Steven Sears, Markus Petters, North Carolina State University
Abstract Number: 462 Working Group: Health Related Aerosols
Abstract Glycerin and propylene glycol mixtures are the common carrier solutions in electronic cigarettes. Aerosols produced from this mixture will evaporate quickly due to their high volatility and gain or lose water until they reach equilibrium with the moisture content of the surrounding atmosphere. Due to these effects, enhanced particle condensation growth can occur within the human lungs where the instantaneous relative humidity values can exceed 100%. The high volatility of glycerin and propylene glycol has made precise kinetic measurements challenging. Here we use a temperature and relative humidity controlled tandem differential mobility analyzer system to study the growth and evaporation kinetics of glycerin and propylene glycol aerosols in a variety of environmental conditions and at various residence times. Initial results suggest that the glycerin aerosol can evaporate within seconds at T>20C and that the accommodation coefficient of glycerin vapor on dry glycerin particles is less than unity. The combined results will help constraining computational modules to model the evolution of glycerin aerosols along a prescribed thermodynamic trajectory.