Abstract
An experimental method for the calibration of a Timbrell aerosol spectrometer is described and the influence of the aerosol and winnowing air flow rates on performance investigated. The Timbrell spectrometer size classifies airborne particles according to their aerodynamic diameters, winnowing them in a recirculating flow of clean air while they fall under the influence of gravity in a horizontal settling chamber. Size separation takes place under Stokesian conditions and the particles deposit on to a series of microscope slides. The results of the calibration with monodisperse polymer latex microspheres and polydisperse spherical particles of polyvinyl acetate show that the instrument achieved acceptable size resolution (∼12%) at an aerosol sampling flow rate of 1 cm 3 min −1, with a ratio of aerosol to winnowing flow rate of 6.7 × 10 −3. Under the conditions used the instrument was shown to be most sensitive for size classifying particles in the range 4–12 μm aerodynamic diameter. The Timbrell aerosol spectrometer is a useful device both as a reference method for the determination of aerodynamic diameters of airborne particles and as a means of collecting such particles for subsequent examination by other aerosol analysis equipment.
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