Abstract View
Measurement of Aerosolized HMWO Nanoparticles and Its Application in Liquid Filter Retention Efficiency Characterization
SIQIN HE, Derek Oberreit, Gary Van Schooneveld, Kanomax FMT, Inc.
Abstract Number: 520
Working Group: Control and Mitigation Technology
Abstract
High molecular weight organics (HMWOs) and their presence as a particle or particle precursor in ultra-clean environments, such as ultrapure water (UPW) systems, have been a rising concern in critical particle contamination control processes, whereas there is limited understanding about how these materials lead to nanoparticles found in processes using UPW. It is therefore of great worth and significance to investigate particle size distributions (PSDs) of specific HMWOs and how these PSDs change due to environmental factors, such as temperature and pH values. Meanwhile, it is also as important to know how efficient the liquid filters will be in removing these particles from ultra-clean environments as well as their performance in loading capacity.
In this work, HMWO solutions were prepared at various concentration and property conditions, and a Liquid Nanoparticle Sizer (LNS) system (Kanomax 9310) was used to aerosolize the solutions and characterize the formed nanoparticles for their particle size distributions (PSDs). PSD results were summarized to exhibit the effects of concentration, temperature, and pH on HMWO nanoparticle formations. The same solutions were also used to challenge a few liquid filter units, with the LNS system installed inline to monitor the upstream and downstream particle size distributions and their respective changing trends. The results were used to demonstrate a continuous and online apparatus to evaluate the performance and health of liquid filters.