AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Development of a Bioaerosol Test Platform for the Evaluation of Biothreat Sensor Performance in Identifying Live BSL-3 Threat Agents
JILL TAYLOR, Benjamin Alvarez, Felix Sage, Thomas Pilholski, Elizabeth Corson, Leah Carol, Brian Damit, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Abstract Number: 883 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Sensors to detect infectious bioaerosol are continually being developed and improved upon to meet the need for a reliable early-warning of an airborne biological attack. The evaluation of these sensors’ performance with various agents requires aerosol test systems that can simulate natural environmental conditions in a controlled biosafety certified laboratory setting. Current Biological Safety Level 3 (BSL-3) test systems vary in many aspects of their design, most notably in how the sensors are integrated into the test airflow. Each technique has weaknesses – direct injection of aerosol into the sensor inlet presents an unrealistic test condition, whereas whole-system and inlet immersion approaches can be burdened by non-homogenous flow velocities and aerosol concentrations at sensor sampling locations.
The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is currently designing and constructing a new BSL-3 test platform housed in a 5’ x 25’ x 7’ Class III biosafety cabinet that will enable closed-circuit wind-tunnel (up to 4 m/s) exposures via inlet immersion of multiple instruments in series, while ensuring that aerosol concentrations and flow profiles are homogeneous at each sensor. Uniquely, the design consists of a configuration of flow straighteners upstream and downstream of sensor inlets. A combination of matrixed velocity measurements, physical sampling of seeded aerosol particles, and potentially particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) will validate the uniformity of aerosol concentration and flow at each sensor location. In addition to this capability, the test platform will have multiple integrated features including systems to control temperature and relative humidity, a static chamber, and a rotating drum for bioaerosol aging experiments. These features will enable studies in sensor test and evaluation, agent fate characterization, and assessment of personal protective equipment. When completed in the summer of 2020, this test platform will offer enhanced capabilities for the study of infectious diseases for both biological defense and public health applications.