Aerosol Deposition Research Articles

Investigation of pathogen-laden aerosol aerodynamics and ventilation rates on their long-range transmission: A study on the Fangcang shelter hospital

Although it is clear that respiratory pathogens are transmitted through droplets and physical contact in Fangcang shelter hospitals (FSHs), the potential for long-range transmission is poorly understood (Offord, 2020; WHO, 2020), and the effective ventilation rate for epidemic prevention in large public spaces is also not yet known. We investigated the pathogen-laden aerosol aerodynamics for the first time in the FSH using a model bacteria indication of the pathogen, concurrently examining ventilation rates on their long-range transmission. The study found that aerosols with sizes smaller than 3.3 μm could facilitate the long-range transmission of pathogens. Poor ventilation results in an increase in contamination levels, but excessive ventilation (12 ACH) may trigger a diminishing return phenomenon of ventilation within the FSH, and worsen aerosol deposition. For this FSH, an ideal ventilation rate was close to 10 ACH, and pathogen-laden aerosols were reduced by 29.54% and 26.77% in the pollution zone and surveyed patient shelter block (PSB), respectively, compared to the design values. Our study contributes to cleaner production in the FSH, as well as to the sustainability of healthcare services and the environment. Some of the findings can be generalized to some extent for similar large public spaces.

Identifying the key sources of metal (loid) deposition to remote Tasmanian lakes: is legacy mining a problem?

Reports have shown that even remote lakes have been negatively affected by anthropogenic activities. This study used metal concentrations and enrichment factors to comprehensively determine key metal sources and identify potential impacts of recent anthropogenic activity in remote Central Highland Tasmanian (Australia) lakes. Metal concentrations (Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn) in these lakes remain below Australian interim sediment quality guidelines but have been slowly increasing since the start of the twentieth century. This increase is likely related to increasing organic matter content, rather than any direct, increased input of metals. The largest anthropogenic impact to these systems was damming, which typically led to an increase in organic matter content either directly, by the trapping of particles and nutrients, or indirectly, by stimulating primary production in the lake. This increased organic matter content, in turn, increased the retention of metals, manifesting as an increase to measured metal concentrations. Minor impacts are the historical use of lead shot, leaded petrol, and industrial processes, which may have contributed to the higher Pb enrichment, compared to the other studied metals, in these lakes. Despite recent concerns of metal contamination in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area from distant mining activities, there is no strong evidence in this study indicating that lakes in the Central Highlands (a similar distance away) have been impacted by long-distance atmospheric deposition. This is likely related to the decreased rainfall, and thus decreased rates of wet deposition of aerosols in the east of Tasmania, compared to that of the west and in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

The transfer of irradiated uranium from the Irish Sea coast to the terrestrial environment in Cumbria, UK

Abstract Sea-to-land transfer of irradiated uranium in soil samples was measured along a transect from the Cumbrian coast south of the Windscale Sellafield nuclear site in a NE direction across the Cumbrian coastal plain. Soluble uranium components were extracted by ion exchange chromatography and ratios 236U:238U and 235U:238U were measured using multi-collector ICP-MS. The method employed demonstrated the utility of 236U ratio measurements for the determination of irradiated uranium in environmental samples. The results produced for uranium were like those that have been reported for other fission product and nuclear fuel components that have been shown to be marine in origin. Measured 236U levels were highest close to the seashore and decreased rapidly as an exponential function of distance. The results indicated the absence of depleted uranium, such as might result from the deposition of aerosols generated by the testing of DU munitions at the nearby Eskmeals firing range in all but one sample.

Validation of computational fluid dynamics models for airway deposition with SPECT data of the same population

This study compared computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model predictions on aerosol deposition in six asthmatic patients to the in-vivo results of the same group. Patient-specific ventilation and internal air distribution were prescribed using inspiratory and expiratory CT scans of each patient, accounting for individual lobar air flow distribution. Moreover, the significant influence of realistic mouth and throat geometries on regional deposition is demonstrated. The in-vivo data were obtained from single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 6 subjects with mild asthma selected from a database of historical clinical trials. The governing flow and particle tracking equations were solved numerically using a commercial CFD tool, and the modeled deposition results were compared to the SPECT data. Good agreement was found between the CFD model, applying k-ω SST turbulence model, and SPECT in terms of aerosol deposition. The average difference for the lobar deposition obtained from CFD model and SPECT/CT data was 2.1%. The high level of agreement is due to applying patient specific airway geometries and inspiratory/expiratory CT images, anatomical upper airways, and realistic airway trees. The results of this study show that CFD is a powerful tool to simulate patient-specific deposition if correct boundary conditions are applied and can generate similar information obtained with functional imaging tools, such as SPECT.

Aerosol deposition in 90-degree bends: An enhanced empirical equation and a design concept of reducing losses

Aerosol deposition in 90-degree bends: An enhanced empirical equation and a design concept of reducing losses

Distribution and Ecological Risk Assessment of Nutrients and Heavy Metals in the Coastal Zone of Yantai, China

As urbanization accelerates, a growing influx of pollutants enters the sea through land runoff, posing a threat to coastal ecosystems. In this study, we systematically determined the concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals in the water and sediments of coastal areas (Yantai, China) and assessed their sources and ecological risks. The results showed that inland rivers transported large amounts of NO3− and PO43− into coast water, which caused severe eutrophication. Regarding heavy metals, copper dominated in seawater, whereas plumbum and arsenic were dominant in sediment, which was sourced from aerosol deposition and mariculture. Zinc, chromium, copper, mercury, and cadmium contributed slightly to pollution, with low enrichment factors, mainly from natural sources. Further analysis showed that zinc, mercury, copper, and arsenic were significantly affected by the grain size composition in sediment. Ecological risk assessment indicated that the coastal zone of Yantai City is in a state of light heavy-metal pollution.

Influence of More Mechanistic Representation of Particle Dry Deposition on 1850–2000 Changes in Global Aerosol Burdens and Radiative Forcing

AbstractRobust estimates of historical changes in aerosols are key for accurate constraints on climate sensitivity. Dry deposition is a primary sink of aerosols from the atmosphere. However, most global climate models do not accurately represent observed strong dependencies of dry deposition following turbulent transport on aerosol size. It is unclear whether there is a substantial impact of mischaracterized aerosol deposition velocities on historical aerosol changes. Here we describe improved mechanistic representation of aerosol dry deposition in the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) global climate model, ModelE, and illustrate the impact on 1850–2000 changes in global aerosol burdens as well as aerosol direct and cloud albedo effects using a set of 1850 and 2000 time slice simulations. We employ two aerosol configurations of ModelE (a “bulk” mass‐based configuration and a configuration that more explicitly represents aerosol size distributions, internal mixing, and microphysics) to explore how model structural differences in aerosol representation alter the response to representation of dry deposition. Both configurations show larger historical increases in the global burdens of non‐dust aerosols with the new dry deposition scheme, by 11% in the simpler mass‐based configuration and 23% in the more complex microphysical configuration. Historical radiative forcing responses, which vary in magnitude from 5% to 12% as well as sign, depend on the aerosol configuration.

Investigation of the Effect of Aerosol Deposition by Applying Electrostatic Fields

Particulate matter (PM) constitutes a significant risk factor for environmental health regarding ambient air quality. An epidemiological investigation has determined that inadequate air quality is associated with the development of lung and cardiovascular diseases, chronic ailments, respiratory infections, and a significant number of fatalities on a global scale. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the annual mortality rate due to air pollution is around 7 million individuals. The necessity for researching air quality, climate change, and the challenges posed by particulate matter (PM) is widely recognized. While reducing ambient air quality, it is essential to consider the limitations of current technical control methods. This article focuses on developing and implementing advanced technology to mitigate particle pollution in urban environments. The comparison of empirical data and computational simulations has demonstrated the efficacy of utilizing pulsed radio waves to reduce particulate matter. The control technique exhibits a threefold increase in the rate of PM concentration reduction compared to gravity settling. The approach's efficacy was evaluated through controlled trials conducted in controlled chambers and urban environments, demonstrating up to 50% reductions. The validation of the implemented test case results of the control technology was performed using historical data while considering the existence of radio waves. The coagulation process demonstrated and verified the effectiveness of reducing particle matter. The employed methodology has been shown to encourage outcomes concerning mitigating particulate matter contamination within urban and industrial environments.

Thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline alumina films fabricated by aerosol deposition

Films fabricated by aerosol deposition (AD) are expected to be used as electrical insulating coatings. High thermal conductivity is required in addition to electrical insulation properties for electrical insulation substrate applications, but the thermal conductivity of AD films has not been reported. AD films are nanocrystalline films consisting of crystals several tens of nanometers in size, and it is unclear what effect the small particle size has on thermal conductivity. In this study, the thermal conductivity of an AD alumina film was measured by the light flash method as 15–31 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature and was large despite the particle size of several tens of nanometers. Analysis was performed using a model of grain size effects on thermal conductivity.

Assessing the release, transport, and retention of radioactive aerosols from hypothetical breaches in spent fuel storage canisters

Interim dry storage of spent nuclear fuel involves storing the fuel in welded stainless-steel canisters. Under certain conditions, the canisters could be subjected to environments that may promote stress corrosion cracking leading to a risk of breach and release of aerosol-sized particulate from the interior of the canister to the external environment through the crack. Research is currently under way by several laboratories to better understand the formation and propagation of stress corrosion cracks, however little work has been done to quantitatively assess the potential aerosol release. The purpose of the present work is to introduce a reliable generic numerical model for prediction of aerosol transport, deposition, and plugging in leak paths similar to stress corrosion cracks, while accounting for potential plugging from particle deposition. The model is dynamic (changing leak path geometry due to plugging) and it relies on the numerical solution of the aerosol transport equation in one dimension using finite differences. The model’s capabilities were also incorporated into a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that was developed to enhance user accessibility. Model validation efforts presented in this paper compare the model’s predictions with recent experimental data from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and results available in literature. We expect this model to improve the accuracy of consequence assessments and reduce the uncertainty of radiological consequence estimations in the remote event of a through-wall breach in dry cask storage systems.

Prediction of Phase Composition and Process Resilience in Plasma‐Assisted Hetero‐Aggregate Synthesis using a Machine‐Learning Model with Multivariate Output

AbstractThe synthesis of nanoscale particles and particle aggregates from liquid or gaseous precursors is affected by a variety of trade‐off relations, for example, in terms of product composition, yield, or energy efficiency. Machine‐supported process evaluation and learning (ML) of these relations enables optimization strategies for advanced material processing. Such a workflow is demonstrated on the example of plasma‐assisted aerosol deposition (PAAD) of alumina powders. Depending on processing conditions, these powders comprise of hetero‐aggregate mixtures of crystalline and amorphous polymorphs. Process optimization toward a specific target composition calls for ML approaches. For this, a sufficiently large and consistent dataset of PAAD input (processing) and output (product) parameters is initially generated by real‐world processing, and subsequently extrapolated into a cloud of ≈106 input‐output parameter matrices using Gaussian process regression with multivariate output and input‐output feature analysis. It is subsequently demonstrated how not only the phase composition of the obtained alumina powders, but also product resilience to variations in specific processing parameters, or – as a perspective – the energy efficiency of material processing can be predicted.

State-dependent impact of major volcanic eruptions observed in ice-core records of the last glacial period

Abstract. Recently, a record of large, mostly unknown volcanic eruptions occurring during the younger half of the last glacial period (12–60 ka) has been compiled from ice-core records. In both Greenland and Antarctica these eruptions led to significant deposition of sulfate aerosols, which were likely transported in the stratosphere, thereby inducing a climate response. Here we report the first attempt to identify the climatic impact of volcanic eruptions in the last glacial period from ice cores. Average negative anomalies in high-resolution Greenland and Antarctic oxygen isotope records suggest a multi-annual volcanic cooling. Due to internal climate variability, glaciological noise, and uncertainties in the eruption age, the high-frequency noise level often exceeds the cooling induced by individual eruptions. Thus, cooling estimates for individual eruptions cannot be determined reliably. The average isotopic anomaly at the time of deposition also remains uncertain, since the signal degrades over time as a result of layer thinning and diffusion, which act to lower the resolution of both the oxygen isotope and sulfur records. Regardless of these quantitative uncertainties, there is a clear relationship of the magnitude of isotopic anomaly and sulfur deposition. Further, the isotopic signal during the cold stadial periods is larger in Greenland and smaller in Antarctica than during the milder interstadial periods for eruptions of equal sulfur deposition magnitude. In contrast, the largest reductions in snow accumulation associated with the eruptions occur during the interstadial periods. This may be the result of a state-dependent climate sensitivity, but we cannot rule out the possibility that changes in the sensitivity of the isotope thermometer or in the radiative forcing of eruptions of a given sulfur ejection may play a role as well.

Synergistic action of hygroscopic and coalescing of biomass-based polymer in radioactive aerosol sedimentation

Synergistic action of hygroscopic and coalescing of biomass-based polymer in radioactive aerosol sedimentation

Cloud and droplet dynamics during a human coughing event under fully mixed and unmixed room conditions

The study of cloud and droplet dynamics during potential transmission events, such as coughing, is essential for understanding the spread and deposition of aerosols and droplets carrying airborne diseases. This paper reports the refinement of a complex model that couples momentum, temperature, and humidity for accurately simulating the dynamics of aerosol clouds and the dispersion of larger droplets under various conditions within an environmental chamber. The model is then employed to quantify aerosol/droplet exposure of a person standing 1 m away from a host. In addition, a statistical framework sheds light on the impact of backward coupling (droplet to cloud), which is negligible compared to forward coupling (cloud to droplet). The near-field study also provides detailed information on droplet behavior, laying the foundation for large-scale far-field studies.

In-situ qualification and physics-based process design for aerosol jet printing via spatially correlated light scattering measurements

Aerosol jet printing is a contactless, digital, and additive technique broadly used for manufacturing flexible, hybrid, and conformal electronics. However, both intra-batch and batch-to-batch variability have hindered widespread industry adoption and scaling to production volumes. Recently, light scattering measurements have emerged as a tool to measure aerosol volume fraction – a key parameter determining deposition rate – and have proven an effective feedback source for closed-loop control on timescales ranging from tens of minutes to hours. While this is a promising capability to mitigate long-term process drift, it lacks the temporal resolution to validate print quality for complex and precise electronic circuits. Here, real-time process monitoring with <1 s resolution is demonstrated for in-situ qualification of aerosol jet printing. To begin, the correlation between light scattering and aerosol deposition is validated at 500 ms time intervals, allowing deposition rate to be mapped to positional coordinates and providing a new data stream to drive quality control assessments. This allows optical scattering to be connected to electrical properties including line and sheet resistance, resulting in predictions nominally within 10% of measured values for sets of printed devices. Finally, the ability to spatially correlate print defects during fabrication is demonstrated as a foundation for a print repair framework, successfully repairing prints with randomly induced defects to achieve resistance within 5% of a control set.

Aerosol Deposition and Snow Accumulation Processes From Beryllium‐7 Measurements in the Central Arctic Ocean: Results From the MOSAiC Expedition

AbstractWe use a tracer method involving the cosmogenic radioisotope beryllium‐7 (half‐life = 53.3 days) to follow the deposition of aerosols and the fate of snow on the MOSAiC ice floe during winter and spring 2019–2020. When examined alongside data from earlier studies in the Arctic Ocean that covered summer and fall, Be‐7 inventories indicate a summertime peak for aerosol Be‐7 deposition fluxes coinciding with seasonal minima boundary‐level aerosol concentrations, which suggests that deposition fluxes are primarily controlled by precipitation. This conclusion is supported by the linear relationship between Be‐7 fluxes and precipitation rates derived from data from the MOSAiC and SHEBA expeditions. Inventories of Be‐7 within the snow column exhibited evidence of significant redistribution. Be‐7 deficits, relative to the flux, were observed in areas of level sea ice while excess Be‐7 was found associated with deformed ice features such as pressure ridges, leading to the following estimates for the distribution of snow on the ice floe in May 2020: 75–93% of the snow mass is found on deformed sea ice with the remainder on level ice. Furthermore, uncertainties associated with measurements of Be‐7 concentrations within the ocean mixed layer would allow for losses of snow through open leads of up to approximately 20% of the flux. Our snow distribution estimates agree with data from repeat snow depth transect measurements. These results suggest that Be‐7 can be a useful tool in studying snow redistribution.

Chemical Data Assimilation With Aqueous Chemistry in WRF‐Chem Coupled With WRFDA (V4.4.1)

AbstractThis study introduces a new chemistry option in the Weather Research and Forecasting model data assimilation (WRFDA) system, coupled with the WRF‐Chem model (Version 4.4.1), to incorporate aqueous chemistry (AQCHEM) in the assimilation of ground‐level chemical measurements. The new DA capability includes the integration of aqueous‐phase aerosols from the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism (RACM) gas chemistry, the Modal Aerosol Dynamics Model for Europe (MADE) aerosol chemistry, and the Volatility Basis Set (VBS) for secondary organic aerosol production. The RACM‐MADE‐VBS‐AQCHEM scheme facilitates aerosol‐cloud‐precipitation interactions by activating aerosol particles in cloud water during the model simulation. With the goal of enhancing air quality forecasting in cloudy conditions, this new implementation is demonstrated in the weakly coupled three‐dimensional variational data assimilation (3D‐Var) system through regional air quality cycling over East Asia. Surface particulate matter (PM) concentrations and four gas species (SO2, NO2, O3, and CO) are assimilated every 6 hr for the month of March 2019. The results show that including aqueous‐phase aerosols in both the analysis and forecast can represent aerosol wet removal processes associated with cloud development and rainfall production. During a pollution event with high cloud cover, simulations without aerosols defined in cloud water exhibit significantly higher values for liquid water path, and surface PM10 (PM2.5) concentrations are overestimated by a factor of 10 (3) when wet scavenging processes dominate. On the contrary, AQCHEM proves to be helpful in simulating the wet deposition of aerosols, accurately predicting the evolution of surface PM concentrations without such overestimation.

In Vivo Deposition of High-Flow Nasal Aerosols Using Breath-Enhanced Nebulization.

Aerosol delivery using conventional nebulizers with fixed maximal output rates is limited and unpredictable under high-flow conditions. This study measured regulated aerosol delivery to the lungs of normal volunteers using a nebulizer designed to overcome the limitations of HFNC therapy (i-AIRE (InspiRx, Inc., Somerset, NJ, USA)). This breath-enhanced jet nebulizer, in series with the high-flow catheter, utilizes the high flow to increase aerosol output beyond those of conventional devices. Nine normal subjects breathing tidally via the nose received humidified air at 60 L/min. The nebulizer was connected to the HFNC system upstream to the humidifier and received radio-labeled saline as a marker for drug delivery (99mTc DTPA) infused by a syringe pump (mCi/min). The dose to the subject was regulated at 12, 20 and 50 mL/h. Rates of aerosol deposition in the lungs (µCi/min) were measured via a gamma camera for each infusion rate and converted to µg NaCl/min. The deposition rate, as expressed as µg of NaCl/min, was closely related to the infusion rate: 7.84 ± 3.2 at 12 mL/h, 43.0 ± 12 at 20 mL/h and 136 ± 45 at 50 mL/h. The deposition efficiency ranged from 0.44 to 1.82% of infused saline, with 6% deposited in the nose. A regional analysis indicated peripheral deposition of aerosol (central/peripheral ratio 0.99 ± 0.27). The data were independent of breathing frequency. Breath-enhanced nebulization via HFNC reliably delivered aerosol to the lungs at the highest nasal airflows. The rate of delivery was controlled simply by regulating the infusion rate, indicating that lung deposition in the critically ill can be titrated clinically at the bedside.

Impacts of a double-moment bulk cloud microphysics scheme (NDW6-G23) on aerosol fields in NICAM.19 with a global 14 km grid resolution

Abstract. In accordance with progression in current capabilities towards high-resolution approaches, applying a convective-permitting resolution to global aerosol models helps comprehend how complex cloud–precipitation systems interact with aerosols. This study investigates the impacts of a double-moment bulk cloud microphysics scheme, i.e., NICAM Double-moment bulk Water 6 developed in this study (NDW6-G23), on the spatiotemporal distribution of aerosols in the Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model as part of the version-19 series (NICAM.19) with 14 km grid spacing. The mass concentrations and optical thickness of the NICAM-simulated aerosols are generally comparable to those obtained from in situ measurements. However, for some aerosol species, especially dust and sulfate, the differences between experiments of NDW6 and of the NICAM single-moment bulk module with six water categories (NSW6) were larger than those between experiments with different horizontal resolutions (14 and 56 km grid spacing), as shown in a previous study. The simulated aerosol burdens using NDW6 are generally lower than those using NSW6; the net instantaneous radiative forcing due to aerosol–radiation interaction (IRFari) is estimated to be −1.36 W m−2 (NDW6) and −1.62 W m−2 (NSW6) in the global annual mean values at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). The net effective radiative forcing due to anthropogenic aerosol–radiation interaction (ERFari) is estimated to be −0.19 W m−2 (NDW6) and −0.23 W m−2 (NSW6) in the global annual mean values at the TOA. This difference among the experiments using different cloud microphysics modules, i.e., 0.26 W m−2 or 16 % difference in IRFari values and 0.04 W m−2 or 16 % difference in ERFari values, is attributed to a different ratio of column precipitation to the sum of the column precipitation and column liquid cloud water, which strongly determines the magnitude of wet deposition in the simulated aerosols. Since the simulated ratios in the NDW6 experiment are larger than those of the NSW6 result, the scavenging effect of the simulated aerosols in the NDW6 experiment is larger than that in the NSW6 experiment. A large difference between the experiments is also found in the aerosol indirect effect (AIE), i.e., the net effective radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interaction (ERFaci) from the present to preindustrial days, which is estimated to be −1.28 W m−2 (NDW6) and −0.73 W m−2 (NSW6) in global annual mean values. The magnitude of the ERFaci value in the NDW6 experiment is larger than that in the NSW6 result due to the differences in both the Twomey effect and the susceptibility of the simulated cloud water to the simulated aerosols between NDW6 and NSW6. Therefore, this study shows the importance of the impacts of the cloud microphysics module on aerosol distributions through both aerosol wet deposition and the AIE.

Mixed-Potential Ammonia Sensor Based on a Dense Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Film Manufactured at Room Temperature by Powder Aerosol Deposition

Powder aerosol deposition (often abbreviated as PAD, PADM, or ADM) is a coating method used to obtain dense ceramic films at room temperature. The suitability of this method to obtain ammonia mixed-potential sensors based on an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte that is manufactured using PAD and a V2O5–WO3–TiO2 (VWT)-covered electrode is investigated in this study. The sensor characteristics are compared with data from sensors with screen-printed YSZ solid electrolytes. The PAD sensors outperform those in terms of sensitivity with 117 mV/decade NH3 compared to 88 mV/decade. A variation in the sensor temperature shows that the NH3 sensitivity strongly depends on the sensor temperature and decreases with higher sensor temperature. Above 560 °C, the characteristic curve shifts from exponential to linear dependency. Variations in the water and the oxygen content in the base gas (usually 10% oxygen, 2% water vapor in nitrogen) reveal a strong dependence of the characteristic curve on the oxygen content. Water vapor concentration variations barely affect the sensor signal.