Module B:

Air Quality
Sources,Transport/Transformation,
Receptor & Control Technology

Manoranjan Sahu
ESED, IIT Bombay
Email: mrsahu@iitb.ac.in
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 Today’s Learning Objectives !

• To learn about monitoring methods and thus able

to quantify pollutants’ concentrations
 Pollutant Measurement

• Particulates
PM2.5, PM10 and TSP

• Gases
CO2, NOX, SO2

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 Why Particle Measurement?

• Particles are generally regarded as one of the

most serious indoor air quality concerns

– Increasing concern about ultrafine particles

• Very high surface area/unit mass
• Direct transfer through cell walls
• Mechanism for respiratory disease
• “Asbestos-like” health effects

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 Particle Measurement

• Distinguish between
• Particle counting
– Only counts number of particles, makes no
distinction between sizes
• Particle sizing
– Counting and sizing information
• Particle mass
• Particle composition
• Viable and non-viable bioaerosol
assessment
• Sampling issues
 Particle Sensors
• Inexpensive (relatively)
– Gravimetric for particle mass
– Light scattering for large particle mass
– Condensation particle counter for counting small
particles
– Cascade impactor for size-resolved mass

• Mid-range
– Optical particle counters

• Expensive
– Aerodynamic particle sizing for large particles
– Differential mobility analyzer for small particles
Quantifying pollutants: Mass concentration

• How do you measure the mass concentration

of PM ? (PM /PM ) 10 2.5
C = Dm/Q.t
Particle size pre-
classifier
t
Dm
Q

Flow Meter Vacuum

Pump
Polluted Filter
Area/Space Cartridge
• Corrections for blank filter
• Corrections for humidity
 Quantifying pollutants: Particle mass
concentration
• Measure mass of clean filter
• Measure mass of filter after exposure
• Measure flow rate and exposure time
• Calculate concentration

• Corrections for blank filter

• Corrections for temperature/ humidity
Particle mass measurements

Clean room weighing facility

Ambient air ● Filter substrates are collected using

monitoring station
impactors/cyclones (for desired size)
and designed flow rate (with a
suction pump)

● Collected filters are conditioned in

laboratory & weighed with precision
microbalance
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Gravimetric Sampling
 Gravimetric (Mass-based) Techniques
• Particles have very low masses
• Need to collect many particles to have
measurable mass
• Most mass based techniques are integrated
samples
 Cascade Impactor

U  p d p2 U Cc Dj
is the jet
Stk  
Dj 2 9 D j diameter

 Particles whose inertia exceeds a certain

value are unable to follow the streamline
and collide(impact) on the flat
plate(impaction plate)
Cascade Impactor (Inertial Impaction)
 The sequential separation divides the
entire distribution of particles into a
series of contiguous groups according
to their aerodynamic diameter.

 From gravitational measurements of

each stage, the fraction of the total
mass in each aerodynamic size range
can be determined.

 With a series of impactors, particle

mass as a function of size can be
obtained

Hinds ., 1999
 Optical Particle Counter

• Similar to photometer, but particles are

isolated
– May require dilution
• 0.065 – 20 µm
– Practically 0.1 – 5 µm
• Some devices just count
Optical Particle Counter (OPC): ~100 nm to 5
mm

Advantages: Disadvantages:
• Can detect very small • too sensitive to small
changes in
particles • refractive index
• Instantaneous and • scattering angle
continuous information • particle size
• particle shape
 Condensation Nuclei Counter (CNC)
• Subject aerosol stream to alcohol (or water)
vapor
• Cool air stream to cause condensation
• Count particles with an optical particle
counter
• Closely related to a condensation particle
counter (CPC)
 Particle Mobility Analyzer

• Particle is subjected to careful (diffusive) electric

charging
– Charge on particle is proportional to diameter
– Electric mobility is known
• Particles are sorted by charge
• Particles are counted by other technique (mostly the
condensation method)
• 0.001 – 1 µm
 Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS)

Consists of
1. Electrostatic
classifier (EC)
2. Differential mobility
analyzer (DMA)
3. Condensation particle
counter (CPC)
 Electrical Mobility Particle Sizing
Sheath air in

HV Supply
(20-10,000 V)
Poly disperse
aerosol In

Trajectories of particle
below the selected
size

Trajectories of particle
corresponding to the
selected size

Trajectories of particle
larger than the
-Sizes particle by electrical mobility selected size
-High resolution measurement possible Excess air
-Due to high accuracy it is a standard out
aerosol instrument Monodisperse
aerosol out
How the CPC works
 How the CPC works
• Interface with EC and DMA to form the
SMPS

• Particles are passed through a wick and

grown with either water or butanol
– Aerosol stream saturated and temperature
equilibrated
– Heterogeneous condensation on condensation
nuclei (the particles)
– Grown to 2 to 3 micrometers
– Individual particles passed through light beam
and scatter light onto a photodetector
Other PM (& gas) Instruments
• High Volume (Hi-Vol) Samplers (1.2 Lakhs)
o Gravimetric (Q =1 m3/min; weight =60 kg)
o Regulatory (PM10 or PM2.5, SO2, NO2)

Impinger (NO2, SO2) Cyclone inlet (PM10)

CPCB, 2011
 Other PM Instruments
• Mini Volume (Mini-Vol) Samplers
(5 Lakhs)
o Gravimetric (Q=5 L/min)
o Regulatory (PM10, PM2.5)

• DustTrak (7 Lakhs)
o Real time (1 minute resolution; Q=3 L/min) www.airmetrics.com

o PMx (x = 1, 2.5, 4, 10)

www.tsi.com
Ultrafine/Nanoparticle Particle sizing:
Electron microscopy
TEM images are formed using transmitted electrons
(instead of the visible light) which can produce
magnification details up to 1,000,000x with
resolution better than 10 Ao

Willeke & Baron, 1999;

http://www.rsic.iitb.ac.in/tem.html
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Time-integrated (passive) methods - Gases

● Gases are collected in Ogawa NOx

tubes/badges by diffusion
● Absorption substrate inside
are coated with chemicals
(e.g triethanolamine for NO2)

● Post-collection analysed in
wet-labs using colorometry
Passam NO2/O3

Ogawa deployed in
field
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 Measurement methods - Gases

O3

CO SO2

Passive samplers with

electrochemical sensors;
usually CO, CO2,NOx, O3, HCHO, NOx
NH3 etc. can be measured

Stacked reference gas monitors at

AQM station; all gases are actively
sampled and anlysed in real-time

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 Personal/Indoor Monitoring Methods

For personal and/or indoor monitoring, important

criteria are:
• portability (instrument size),
• battery run-time, and
• noise it makes while running
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 Accuracy of Measurements
• For what size aerosol?
• For what concentration of aerosol?
– Even gravimetric
• For instruments that size
– Not counting particle vs. putting particle in wrong
bin
• Manufacturer’s accuracy is not often useful
– Must calculate your own based on knowledge of
instrument
 Particle sizing instrument
• No single instrument can measure particle sizes
over the entire range (1nm to 100µm)

• A combination of techniques are required for

aerosol measurement

• Different measurements yield different

information about the particle

–Therefore, multiple instruments are commonly

used for aerosol characterization
 Sampling Line Losses
• Extensive literature on subject
– Generally an issue for large (>1 μm) and small (<
0.05 μm) particles
• What are mechanisms that cause loss and
how do we minimize them?
• Calculating line loss
– Values from literature, software, or use
equivalent lines
– Best approach is measurement

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 Summary

• Wide variety of instruments available for

particle measurement
– What size of aerosol are you interested in?
– Do you need sizing or is counting sufficient?
– Do you need real-time data?
– What type of aerosol are you trying to
measure?
– How much accuracy do you need?
– How much money do you have?