Small-Ion and Nano-Aerosol Production During Candle Burning: Size Distribution and Concentration Profile with Time

Figures & data

FIG. 1 ACIMS mobility spectra obtained (a) before lighting candle, (b) during candle burning, (c) several hours after candle extinguished (all on June 1, 2005) and (d), (e), (f) during candle burning with fan on July 29, 2004, June 7, 2005, and June 10, 2005, respectively.

TABLE 1 ACIMS and SMPS+C data for candle burning only

		ACIMS				SMPS+C
Date		+ve ions (m^− 3)	−ve ions (m^− 3)	+ve aerosols (m^− 3)	−ve aerosols (m^− 3)	Total aerosols (m^− 3)	Mean size (nm)
Apr 27 2005	Before	4.65 × 10^8	4.20 × 10^8	2.37 × 10^8	2.53 × 10^8	N/A	N/A
	During	1.53 × 10^8	1.34 × 10^8	4.40 × 10^9	4.60 × 10^9	N/A	N/A
	3 h after	7.35 × 10^8	5.54 × 10^8	2.09 × 10^8	2.21 × 10^8	N/A	N/A
	9 h after	6.66 × 10^8	5.60 × 10^8	6.32 × 10^7	6.27 × 10^7	N/A	N/A
May 3 2005	Before	3.94 × 10^8	3.15 × 10^8	1.40 × 10^8	1.45 × 10^8	5.57 × 10^9	43.0
	During	6.81 × 10^7	6.37 × 10^7	4.62 × 10^9	4.92 × 10^9	9.68 × 10^9	35.7
	3 h after	7.55 × 10^8	5.93 × 10^8	9.63 × 10^7	1.09 × 10^8	4.61 × 10^9	47.1
	9 h after	8.46 × 10^8	6.59 × 10^8	6.97 × 10^7	7.83 × 10^7	3.98 × 10^9	59.9
Jun 1 2005	Before	3.22 × 10^8	2.44 × 10^8	8.50 × 10^7	1.11 × 10^8	4.98 × 10^9	46.5
	During	1.01 × 10^8	8.50 × 10^7	3.54 × 10^9	3.99 × 10^9	9.96 × 10^9	40.3
	3 h after	9.97 × 10^8	7.49 × 10^8	6.29 × 10^7	6.57 × 10^7	2.17 × 10^9	47.5
	9 h after	6.97 × 10^8	4.99 × 10^8	5.87 × 10^7	7.02 × 10^7	1.22 × 10^9	57.9

TABLE 2 ACIMS and SMPS+C data for candle burning with fan

		ACIMS				SMPS+C
Date		+ve ions (m^− 3)	−ve ions (m^− 3)	+ve aerosols (m^− 3)	−ve aerosols (m^− 3)	Total aerosols (m^− 3)	Mean size (nm)
Jul 29 2004	Before	1.92 × 10^8	1.54 × 10^8	1.25 × 10^8	1.30 × 10^8	N/A	N/A
	During	5.97 × 10^8	9.39 × 10^8	6.18 × 10^9	6.50 × 10^9	N/A	N/A
	3 h after	5.57 × 10^8	4.30 × 10^8	5.32 × 10^7	5.79 × 10^7	N/A	N/A
	9 h after	9.15 × 10^8	7.40 × 10^8	4.89 × 10^7	6.30 × 10^7	N/A	N/A
Jun 7 2005	Before	1.35 × 10^8	1.05 × 10^8	9.60 × 10^7	1.00 × 10^8	7.78 × 10^9	61.3
	During	1.49 × 10^9	1.55 × 10^9	3.04 × 10^9	3.01 × 10^9	2.30 × 10^10	41.6
	3 h after	1.49 × 10^8	1.14 × 10^8	6.40 × 10^7	5.80 × 10^7	5.74 × 10^9	72.2
	9 h after	1.43 × 10^8	1.02 × 10^8	7.69 × 10^7	8.61 × 10^7	7.48 × 10^9	71.7
Jun 10 2005	Before	2.63 × 10^8	2.14 × 10^8	1.33 × 10^8	1.41 × 10^8	7.61 × 10^9	44.4
	During	1.48 × 10^9	2.37 × 10^9	8.34 × 10^9	8.17 × 10^9	2.07 × 10^10	33.3
	3 h after	2.87 × 10^8	2.27 × 10^8	6.91 × 10^7	7.05 × 10^7	5.71 × 10^9	50.2
	9 h after	4.34 × 10^8	3.49 × 10^8	7.49 × 10^7	8.17 × 10^7	3.56 × 10^9	53.8

FIG. 2 ACIMS mobility spectra obtained during candle burning (a) with flame shielded from the fan by a lamp chimney, (b) with the fan pointing away from the measurement devices.

FIG. 3 SMPS+C size distributions in the range 10–1000 nm. Data taken from individual runs on June 1, 2005 (curves a to c) and June 10, 2005 (curve d).

FIG. 4 Small-ion and charged nano-aerosol counts obtained from single runs on the ACIMS during (a) candle burning on June 1, 2005, and (b) candle burning with fan on June 10, 2005.

FIG. 5 Aerosol counts obtained from single runs on the SMPS+C during (a) candle burning on June 1, 2005, and (b) candle burning with fan on June 10, 2006. The solid vertical lines represent candle lighting and the broken vertical lines when the candle was extinguished.