Particulates characterization

Core, J. E., Terraglio, F. P., Field and Slash Burning Particulate Characterization The Search for Unique Natural... 

Dabek-Zlotorzynska Dr. Ewa, Research Scientist and Head of Particulate Characterization Analysis and Air Quality Section, Air Quality Research Division Atmospheric Science and Technology, Directorate Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, 335 River Road, Ottawa, Ontario Canada KIA 0H3 e-mail Ewa.Dabek ec.gc.ca... 

T. P. Meloy, Particulate Characterization Future Approaches, Handbook of Powder Science and Technology, in M. E. Fayed and L. Otten (eds.). Van Nostrand Reihold Company Inc., New York, 1984, p. 69-98. 

This section is devoted to the relationship between the specific surface of particulate solids and some parameter or parameters which characterize the particle size. Attention will be restricted to particles of simple shapes, but non-uniformity of particle size will be considered. 

Receptor models are powerful tools for source apportionment of particulates because a vast amount of particulate species characterization data have been collected at many sampling sites worldwide, and because many aerosol species are primary pollutants. Most of the information available is for elemental concentrations, eg, lead, nickel, and alurninum, although more recent measurements have provided data on concentrations of ionic species and carbonaceous compounds. At a sampling (or receptor) site, the aerosol mass concentration of each species i is... 

Aerosol Dynamics. Inclusion of a description of aerosol dynamics within air quaUty models is of primary importance because of the health effects associated with fine particles in the atmosphere, visibiUty deterioration, and the acid deposition problem. Aerosol dynamics differ markedly from gaseous pollutant dynamics in that particles come in a continuous distribution of sizes and can coagulate, evaporate, grow in size by condensation, be formed by nucleation, or be deposited by sedimentation. Furthermore, the species mass concentration alone does not fliUy characterize the aerosol. The particle size distribution, which changes as a function of time, and size-dependent composition determine the fate of particulate air pollutants and their... 

Cement plants in the United States are now carehiUy monitored for compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for emissions of particulates, SO, NO, and hydrocarbons. AH plants incorporate particulate collection devices such as baghouses and electrostatic precipitators (see Air POLLUTION CONTROL methods). The particulates removed from stack emissions are called cement kiln dust (CKD). It has been shown that CKD is characterized by low concentrations of metals which leach from the CKD at levels far below regulatory limits (63,64). Environmental issues continue to be of concern as the use of waste fuel in cement kilns becomes more widespread. 

Moments of a distribution often provide information that can be used to characterize particulate matter. Theyth moment of the population density function n is defined as... 

The complete characterization of a particulate material requires development of a functional relationship between crystal size and population or mass. The functional relationship may assume an analytical form (7), but more frequentiy it is necessary to work with data that do not fit such expressions. As such detail may be cumbersome or unavailable for a crystalline product, the material may be more simply (and less completely) described in terms of a single crystal size and a spread of the distribution about that specified dimension. 

TABLE 20-37 Methods of Characterizing Wetting Dynamics of Particulate Systems ... 

Samples of particulate matter can be subjected to many of the above analytical techniques in chemical characterization. The following methods are, however, particularly applicable to analysis of physical characteristics of particulate matter isolated from air sampling. 

Airborne particulate matter, which includes dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets emitted into the air, is small enough to be suspended in the atmosphere. Airborne particulate matter may be a complex mixture of organic and inorganic substances. They can be characterized by their physical attributes, which influence their transport and deposition, and their chemical composition, which influences their effect on health. The physical attributes of airborne particulates include mass concentration and size distribution. Ambient levels of mass concentration are measured in micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m ) size attributes are usually measured in aerodynamic diameter. Particulate matter (PM) exceeding 2.5 microns (/i) in aerodynamic diameter is generally defined as coarse particles, while particles smaller than 2.5 mm (PMj,) are called fine particles. 

Recently, much emphasis has been put on the harmful effects of small particles, i.e., particulate matter (PM), on human health. A number of standards have been established to characterize the PM fractions in the air and their effects on human health. A widely used PM standard in force in both Europe and the United States is based on the mass concentration of particles with a diameter of 10 gm or less (PMjo). However, recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new standard that is based on the aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 gm particles. This new standard emphasizes the significant impact of small particles on human health, especially on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. 4 ... 

EUROVENT has always led the field in measuring and characterizing air filters. Since 1979 EUROVENT 4/5 has set the standard in Europe and provided the basis for European Standard EN 779 1993, Specifications for Particulate Air Filters for General Ventilation. 

The first essential step in the design of a fume control system and selection of gas-cleaning equipment is the characterization of the fume emission source. Design procedures which can be used for new and existing industrial plants follow. The characterization of fume emission sources includes parameters such as plume flow rates (mVs), plume geometry (m), source heat flux (J/s), physical and chemical characteristics of particulates, fume loadings (mg/m ), etc. 

Solid particles have a distinct form, which can strongly affect their appearance, product quality and processing behaviour. Thus, in addition to chemical composition, particulate solids have to be additionally characterized by particle size and shape. Furthermore, particles can be generated at any point within the process. For example, nucleation occurs within a crystallization process and large particles are broken down to numerous smaller ones in a comminution process or within a drier. 

For a more detailed exposition, the reader is referred to specialist texts such as those on particle technology (Beddow, 1980 Rhodes, 1990 Rumpf, 1990), theory particulate of processes (Randolph and Larson, 1988) and particle characterization (Allen, 1996 Coulson and Richardson, 1991). 

The sieve test is probably still the most commonly used sizing technique both to characterize particulate distributions and separate them into fractions on the... 

Recent Uses of Solid-Surface Luminescence Analysis in Environmental Analysis. Vo-Dinh and coworkers have shown very effectively how solid-surface luminescence techniques can be used for environmentally important samples (17-22). RTF has been used for the screening of ambient air particulate samples (17,18). In addition, RTF has been employed in conjunction with a ranking index to characterize polynuclear aromatic pollutants in environmental samples (19). A unique application of RTF reported recently is a personal dosimeter badge based on molecular diffusion and direct detection by RTF of polynuclear aromatic pollutants (20). The dosimeter is a pen-size device that does not require sample extraction prior to analysis. 

Yamanchi T, T Handa (1987) Characterization of aza heterocyclic hydrocarbons in urban atmospheric particulate matter. Environ Sci Technol 21 1177-1181. 

In addition to the well-characterized role of iron in catalysing redox interactions, other metallic contaminants, for example, nickel, may also contribute. In vivo toxicity studies have demonstrated the capacity of nickel particulate compounds to induce tumours following intraperitoneal injection (Pott etal., 1987). Such activity is proportional to their phagocytic uptake, and to the associated respiratory burst and generation of PMN-derived reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), a proposed pathogenic mechanism (Evans et al., 1992a). 

---