A new corona discharge-based aerosol charger for submicron particles with low initial charge

Stommel, Yves Gorat; Riebel, Ulrich

doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2004.03.005

Cited by 35 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…As legal restrictions prevented the deployment of a radioactive source as an aerosol neutralizer, ambient aerosol particles are generally neutralized in a corona-discharge based aerosol neutralizer (Stommel and Riebel, 2004). This aerosol neutralizer consists of an aerosol chamber with an AC electrical discharge and was shown to perform in an equivalent fashion to the more common Kr 85 neutralizer in ambient aerosol measurements.…”

Section: Particle Size Distribution Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol particle number size distributions and particulate light absorption at the ZOTTO tall tower (Siberia), 2006–2009

et al. 2011

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Abstract. This paper analyses aerosol particle number size distributions, particulate absorption at 570 nm wavelength and carbon monoxide (CO) measured between September 2006 and January 2010 at heights of 50 and 300 m at the Zotino Tall Tower Facility (ZOTTO) in Siberia (60.8 • N; 89.35 • E). Average number, surface and volume concentrations are broadly comparable to former studies covering shorter observation periods. Fits of multiple lognormal distributions yielded three maxima in probability distribution of geometric mean diameters in the Aitken and accumulation size range and a possible secondary maximum in the nucleation size range below 25 nm. The seasonal cycle of particulate absorption shows maximum concentrations in high winter (December) and minimum concentrations in mid-summer (July). The 90th percentile, however, indicates a secondary maximum in July/August that is likely related to forest fires. The strongly combustion derived CO shows a single winter maximum and a late summer minimum, albeit with a considerably smaller seasonal swing than the particle data due to its longer atmospheric lifetime. Total volume and even more so total number show a more complex seasonal variation with maxima in winter, spring, and summer. A cluster analysis of back trajectories and vertical profiles of the pseudo-potential temperature yielded ten clusters with three levels of particle number concentration: Low concentrations in Arctic air masses (400-500 cm −3 ), mid-level concentrations for zonally advected air masses from westerly directions between 55 • and 65 • N (600-800 cm −3 ), and high concentrations for air masses advected from the belt of industrial and population centers in Siberia and Kazakhstan (1200 cm −3 ). The obCorrespondence to: J. Heintzenberg (jost@tropos.de) servational data is representative for large parts of the troposphere over Siberia and might be particularly useful for the validation of global aerosol transport models.

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Section: Particle Size Distribution Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol particle number size distributions and particulate light absorption at the ZOTTO tall tower (Siberia), 2006–2009

et al. 2011

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“…The most widespread method of producing such bipolar ion atmosphere is through the use of a weak radioactive source (typically 85 Kr, 241 Am or 210 Po, with the first one emitting b radiation while the last two a radiation). However, limitations posed by handling radioactive materials triggered a substantial amount of research work on alternative bipolar charging methods, including bipolar corona neutralizers (Romay et al 1994;Stommel & Riebel 2004;Han et al 2009;Kallinger et al 2012), dielectric barrier discharging (Kwon et al 2006) and soft X-rays (Shimada et al 2002;Yun et al 2009;Kallinger, et al 2012;Jiang et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodology to quantify the ratio of multiple-to single-charged fractions acquired in aerosol neutralizers

Mamakos

2016

Aerosol Science and Technology

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A methodology for the quantification of the ratio of multiple-to single-charged fractions acquired in aerosol neutralizers is presented. These quantities are necessary for an accurate monodisperse calibration of aerosol instrumentation. A tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA) setup is required, with the second DMA scanning the electrical mobility spectra classified in the first DMA. In contrast to previous studies on the quantification of bipolar charge distribution utilizing tandem DMA schemes, the methodology targets at the direct determination of the multiple-to singlecharge fractions and does so through the analysis of the raw signal instead of the inverted size distributions, thus circumventing errors associated with the assumptions in the DMA data inversion. The proposed methodology is employed for the characterization of different types of aerosols commonly employed for instrument calibration. Spherical liquid particles (emery oil and dioctyl sebacate) were found to acquire lower multiple charge fractions than those suggested by the commonly employed regression fits of Wiedensohler, which was published in the year 1988 in the Journal of Aerosol Science (vol. 19,, but still within the range of values reported in the literature. Diffusion flame soot and spark generated graphite particles, produced by a miniCAST 6203C burner and a PALAS DNP 3000, respectively, exhibited higher fraction of multiple charges, in good agreement with previous work on agglomerates. The use of a soft X-ray bipolar charger (TSI 3088) yielded systematically higher multiple fractions of positive charges compared to a 85 Kr neutralizer (TSI 3077A), confirming the importance of direct photoionization charging on the former.

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“…In the past few years major advances towards bipolar corona discharge chargers have been accomplished (e.g. Stommel and Riebel, 2004). Further enhancement of the charged particle fraction could be accomplished by parallel use of multiple bipolar chargers coupled to an electrostatic-focusing device, focusing one polarity of charged particles to its center while extracting the excess air at its periphery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A chemical analyzer for charged ultrafine particles

Gonser

Held

2013

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. New particle formation is a frequent phenomenon in the atmosphere and of major significance for the Earth's climate and human health. To date the mechanisms leading to the nucleation of particles as well as to aerosol growth are not completely understood. A lack of appropriate measurement equipment for online analysis of the chemical composition of freshly nucleated particles is one major limitation. We have developed a Chemical Analyzer for Charged Ultrafine Particles (CAChUP) capable of analyzing particles with diameters below 30 nm. A bulk of size-separated particles is collected electrostatically on a metal filament, resistively desorbed and subsequently analyzed for its molecular composition in a time of flight mass spectrometer. We report on technical details as well as characterization experiments performed with the CAChUP. Our instrument was tested in the laboratory for its detection performance as well as for its collection and desorption capabilities. The manual application of defined masses of camphene (C10H16) to the desorption filament resulted in a detection limit between 0.5 and 5 ng, and showed a linear response of the mass spectrometer. Flow tube experiments of 25 nm diameter secondary organic aerosol from ozonolysis of alpha-pinene also showed a linear relation between collection time and the mass spectrometer's signal intensity. The resulting mass spectra from the collection experiments are in good agreement with published work on particles generated by the ozonolysis of alpha-pinene. A sensitivity study shows that the current setup of CAChUP is ready for laboratory measurements and for the observation of new particle formation events in the field.

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A new corona discharge-based aerosol charger for submicron particles with low initial charge

Cited by 35 publications

References 12 publications

Aerosol particle number size distributions and particulate light absorption at the ZOTTO tall tower (Siberia), 2006–2009

Aerosol particle number size distributions and particulate light absorption at the ZOTTO tall tower (Siberia), 2006–2009

Methodology to quantify the ratio of multiple-to single-charged fractions acquired in aerosol neutralizers

A chemical analyzer for charged ultrafine particles

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