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Releasable Asbestos Field Sampler (RAFS) Operation Manual
Citation:
BARRETT, W. M., J. Kominsky, J. Thornburg, AND J. KONZ. Releasable Asbestos Field Sampler (RAFS) Operation Manual. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-11/185, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The Releasable Asbestos Field Sampler (RAFS) is a field instrument that provides an in-situ measurement of asbestos releasability from consistent and reproducible mechanical agitation of the source material such as soil. The RAFS was designed to measure concentration (asbestos structures per cubic centimeter of air) and an emission rate (asbestos structures per second) from soil. The RAFS operates in situ under actual soil conditions with representative moisture content and grain size. Kominsky et al. (2010) describes the development and field validation of the RAFS. RAFS utilizes a raking motion to provide the energy that releases particulate material from the soil and aerosolizes the asbestos fibers. A gentle airflow transports the generated aerosol laterally inside a tunnel to one end where filter sampling cassettes or real-time instruments are used to measure asbestos and particulate release. The RAFS operates as a semi-autonomous instrument with operator-controlled set points such as speed of the raking mechanism and air velocity through the wind tunnel. These set points can be adjusted and optimized by the operator for use in a variety of conditions.