Experimental Assessment and Calibration of an Inertial Spectrometer

Abstract

An experimental assessment has been made of the performance of an inertial spectrometer to measure the aerodynamic diameter of aerosol particles. These studies have included a determination of the optimum operating conditions for good size resolution, and the calibration of the instrument with monodisperse aerosol particles. Sampling conditions had to be chosen with care in order to ensure that the instrument operated correctly and separated particles on the basis of their aerodynamic size. When the instrument was upright, the calibration curves agreed closely with those of the manufacturer. However, when the spectrometer was inverted, the calibration curves were slightly displaced due to the change in direction of the gravitational force with respect to the other forces acting on the particles as they passed through the spectrometer.