2017-08-31, Keller, Alejandro, Burtscher, Heinz

Biomass burning is a major contributor to environmental particulate matter pollution and should therefore be contemplated by emission control legislation. However, policy decisions for improving air quality by imposing emission limits are only as good as the selected metric. We discuss an approach that incorporates recent scientific results and is compatible with type-approval testing and field measurements. We include potential secondary organic aerosol (SOA) by aging emissions in an oxidation flow reactor. Quantification is done by particle-bound total carbon analysis. Total carbon is the fraction relevant to combustion quality and a better marker for toxicity than total particulate matter, which also includes salts and ashes. The data is complemented by on-line size distribution measurements. We exemplify our approach by showing measurements performed on a variety of appliances. Our measurements suggest that non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) species with very low volatility are responsible for most of the SOA. Condensing and precipitating this fraction significantly reduces SOA potential but has no noticeable impact on total NMHC. Thus, key precursors of SOA may be a much smaller subset than previously thought. Targeting this fraction could be a straightforward SOA mitigation strategy. These results could not have been derived using the current standard emission control metrics.

2016, Weingartner, Ernest, Jurányi, Zsofia, Egli, Daniel, Steigmeier, Peter, Burtscher, Heinz

This sensor detects volcanic ash particles and distinguishes them from cloud droplets. Operated on an airplane, this detector can quantify the exposure to hazardous refractory ash and the in-situ measurement is not biased by the presence of cloud particles. A volcanic eruption emits a significant amount of hazardous ash particles into the air. If the event is strong enough, the volcanic ash plume can reach high altitudes and can be a serious security risk for airplanes. We have developed a new prototype aerosol sensor for the reliable detection of volcanic ash. The envisaged application is the employment of this new technique on board of passenger aircraft. It allows in-situ monitoring of the airplane's exposure to volcanic ash. The challenge of this development is the requirement that the sensor can distinguish cloud droplets (or ice crystals) from the hazardous refractory ash particles. At aviation altitudes, water droplets and ice crystals are often present in the particle size region of the ash (1-20 micrometer) and their concentrations can reach the levels that are considered as the limits of the different volcanic ash contamination zones. Therefore, it is crucial that the sensor can differentiate between volcanic ash and water or ice particles. The sensor measures the scattered light intensities from individual particles outside of the airplane cabin through a glass window. The desired discrimination is achieved with two lasers operating at different wavelengths. Ash concentrations (in terms of number and mass) are derived, and the exposure of the airplane is recorded and transmitted in real time to the pilot. The volcanic ash detector was tested in the laboratory with various test aerosols and micrometer-sized water droplets. Then, ground-based outdoor measurements were conducted and the instrument response to mineral dust (a surrogate for volcanic ash) and natural cloud droplets (and ice crystals) was investigated. In a next step, this new technique will be tested in summer 2016 on-board of a research aircraft.

2002-08, Bukowiecki, Nicolas, Kittelson, David B., Watts, Winthrop F., Burtscher, Heinz, Weingartner, Ernest, Baltensperger, Urs

The diffusion charging sensor (DC), photoelectric aerosol sensor (PAS) and condensation particle counter (CPC) are real-time particle instruments that have time resolutions < 10s and are suitable for field use. This paper shows how the relative fraction of nuclei mode particles (D ≤ 50nm) in ambient combustion aerosols can be determined, along with the coverage degree of the respective accumulation mode particles with a modal diameter of ~ 100nm. Main tools for interpretation are the diameter of average surface DAve,S (obtained from CPC and DC measurements) and PAS/DC versus DAve,S scatter plots. Compared to the scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), which is a standard instrument for aerosol particle size distribution measurements, the presented method has a limited accuracy, but is substantially faster. Additionally, it is experimentally less demanding than SMPS measurements, especially for field applications.