Grantee Research Project Results

Aerodyne Research Inc. (Aerodyne) proposes to develop a new monitor that provides composition information of particles in the ultrafine (10-100 nm), fine (100 nm-2.5 µm) and coarse (2.5-10 µm) size modes in near real time. Particle monitoring technologies are important for better characterization of the environmental, health and visibility effects of both anthropogenic and biogenic aerosol particles. Current monitoring technologies either provide no chemical information or require extensive post-processing chemical analysis.

 

Based in part on previous EPA SBIR support, Aerodyne developed, field tested and commercialized the Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) to provide an affordable instrument to measure particle composition in near real time. As a sign of its relevance to the monitoring community, the company has already made 12 sales of the ACSM. Here, Aerodyne proposes modifications of the ACSM that will upgrade its performance to provide size resolution in the ultrafine, fine and coarse modes and integrate an optical particle sizer to provide size resolution for the coarse mode. Three recent developments at Aerodyne Research, Inc. make the upgrade possible: (1) semi-analytical models to describe particle focusing in aerodynamic lenses; (2) particle dispersion lenses; and (3) integration of light scattering particle detection with Aerodyne's Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) instrument. In this Phase I effort, Aerodyne will prove the feasibility of integrating these three developments with the ACSM technology. In Phase II, the company will fully integrate and field test these components in a new ACSM with greatly expanded capabilities and market opportunities.