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PHOTOACOUSTIC DETECTION OF PARTICULATE CARBON
Citation:
Bennett, C. AND R. Patty. PHOTOACOUSTIC DETECTION OF PARTICULATE CARBON. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-81/129.
Description:
A photoacoustic technique for the mass monitoring of carbonaceous aerosols deposited on filter substrates has been developed. The technique involves the use of a specially designed photoacoustic cell. Photoacoustic response is calibrated as a function of elemental carbon loading using laboratory-generated elemental carbon standards. The nature of the photoacoustic response is examined at several chopping frequencies using these calibration standards, and the physical principles necessary for an adequate interpretation of the experimental results is presented in detail. Practical considerations concerning ambient carbon monitoring are outlined; in particular, the perturbation due to the presence of scattering particulates is examined and limited experimental quantification of this perturbation is reported.