Volatile particles measured by vapor-particle separator

Journal Article · Thu Aug 25 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Aerosol Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2016.08.009· OSTI ID:1333074

Cheng, Meng -Dawn ^[1]; Corporan, Edwin ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
2. Air Force Research Lab., Wright-Patterson, OH (United States)

Vapor-Particle Separator (VPS) is a new technology developed for characterization of the volatile fraction of particulate matter in a combustion aerosol population. VPS incorporates a novel metallic membrane and operates in a cross-flow filtration mode for separation of vapor and solid (i.e. non-volatile) particles. Demonstration of the VPS technology on aircraft engine-emitted particles has led to the improvement of the technology and increased confidence on the robustness of its field performance. In this study, the performance of the VPS was evaluated against the Particle Measurement Programme (PMP) volatile particle remover (VPR), a standardized device used in heavy duty diesel engines for separation and characterization of non-volatile particulate matter. Using tetracontane particles in the laboratory reveals that the VPS performed reasonably well in removing the volatile species. In the field conditions, a single-mode particle size distribution was found for emitted particles from a T63 turboshaft engine at both idle and cruise engine power conditions. Removal of the volatile T63 engine particles by the VPS was consistent with that of PMP VPR. In tests on an F117 turbofan engine, the size distribution at the idle (4% rated) engine power condition was found to be bimodal, with the first mode consisting of particles smaller than 10nm, which are believed to be mostly semi-volatile particles, while the second mode of larger size was a mixture of semi-volatile and non-volatile particles. The distribution was single modal at the 33% rated engine power with no secondary mode observed. Altogether, for particles emitted by both engines, the removal efficiency of the VPS appears to surpass that of the PMP VPR by 8-10%.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: ORNL work for others; USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1333074
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1359220
• Journal Information: Journal of Aerosol Science, Journal Name: Journal of Aerosol Science Journal Issue: C Vol. 101; ISSN 0021-8502
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
F117 engine
T63 engine
engine emissions
vapor-particle separator
volatile particles