SBIR Phase I: Development of a Broad Spectrum Differential Mobility Aerosol Analyzer for Aerosol Size Distribution Measurements

Brechtel Manufacturing Incorporated, Hayward CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will support the development of a new Differential Mobility Analyzer aerosol sizing and counting system that is simple to use, inexpensive, can be easily deployed for remote, autonomous operation, and allows rapid observations of ambient particle number size distributions over the 0.005 to 0.35 micrometer diameter range. The new technology will largely eliminate the cost, size, weight, and operator-expertise limitations of currently available sizing technologies. A theoretical model of instrument response and mechanical designs of the various components will be completed during the project. A prototype of the sizing system will be fabricated and the instrument will be tested side-by-side against standard instruments in the laboratory. Applications of the new technology include aerosol health effects studies, routine monitoring of ambient aerosol size distributions, studies of rapid aerosol evolution in power-plant plumes, and radiative closure calculations that relate key aerosol properties to ambient light extinction.