CHART: A Modular Research Tool for Testing of Protection Against Highly Toxic Aerosols

TOM VENEMA, Dinesh Durán Jiménez, Duurt Alkema, Ruud Busker, Arjan van Wuijckhuijse, TNO

     Abstract Number: 729
     Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods

Abstract
Global concerns over the possibility of intentional release of highly toxic chemicals have urged interest into fabrics to protect against vapours as well as aerosols. Concurrently, there is a need for critical experimental assessment of the protection capabilities against chemical aerosols. We therefore present a tool to evaluate physical protection materials against chemical aerosols, i.e. the Chemical Hot Aerosol Research Tool (CHART).

CHART is an modular research tool which has been initially deployed for the evaluation of off-the-shelf detectors for highly toxic chemical aerosols. Recently, the option to evaluate the performance of protective materials against live aerosolized agents has been implemented. Additionally, the modular fashion of the CHART provides the possibility to perform other relevant hot aerosol research, such as toxicology and agent fate assessment studies

The efficiency of fabrics, filters or other air permeable materials is being evaluated against live agents using the swatch module. The aerosol can be dispersed as liquid or solid according to the required specifications, within the broad dynamic particle size range of 0.5 to 3 µm and dynamic mass range of 0.01 – 20 mg/m3. The aerosol is measured and characterized in real time before and behind the swatch by optical particle counters or aerodynamic particle sizers. Characterizing the aerosol twice allows for a comprehensive assessment of mass and size of particles that penetrate through the filter material. The required linear velocity through the fabric is dependent on the material properties of the fabric, and is taken into account.

The present study focuses on the current characteristics and future capabilities of the CHART as a validated, safe, toxic chemical aerosols Test and Evaluation tool for swatch-testing. The set-up and validation of the CHART system will be presented, exemplified by preliminary tests.

This work was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Defence under grants V1802 and V2207.