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Title: Noninvasive determination of respiratory ozone absorption: Development of a fast-responding ozone analyzer. Research report, Jun 88-Apr 90

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6138647

An ozone analyzer and an ozone bolus generator were developed and tested for future use in noninvasive measurements of ozone absorption along the human respiratory tract using the bolus-response technique. The analyzer, based on the chemiluminescent reaction of ozone with 2-methyl-2-butene, is sufficiently rapid and sensitive to measure changes in ozone concentration during a four-second breathing period at quiet respiratory flowrates of 300 mL/sec in human subjects. Its performance characteristics include a 90 percent step-response time of 110 msec, a linear calibration from 0.03 to 10 ppm ozone, a signal-to-noise ratio of 30 at 0.5 ppm ozone, and a minimum detection limit of 0.017 ppm ozone. The ozone bolus generator can produce single boluses containing as little as 0.35 micro g ozone in a volume of 19 mL, with a peak ozone fraction of up to 4 ppm. The analyzer and bolus generator were tested in bolus-response experiments at steady air flowrates of 50 to 200 mL/sec in excised pig and sheep tracheas. Twenty-five to 50 percent of the ozone introduced into the trachea was absorbed. Analysis of the mathematical moments of the bolus input and response curves and comparison to predictions of a diffusion theory indicate that ozone absorption is limited by diffusion processes in the airway lumen.

Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
OSTI ID:
6138647
Report Number(s):
PB-91-243220/XAB
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Sponsored by Health Effects Inst., Cambridge, MA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English