Aerosol Dynamics Research Articles

A study both to measure and to visualize the scattering of fine particles generated during dental treatment

There is an urgent need to examine the risk of infection from aerosols generated during dental treatment and to review infection control. However, existing research on aerosol particles associated with dental treatment is by no means sufficient, and little research has been done on the details of aerosol particle generation in the clinical environment, the mechanisms, and patterns of distribution in open and closed spaces, the time they are suspended in the air, the amount and size of particles present. Therefore, to minimize the influence of background particles, laser beams, a high-sensitivity camera, and a particle counter were used in a large super-clean laboratory (SCL) to investigate the dynamics of aerosols generated during dental micromotor operation. The large number of aerosol particles generated by the use of the micro-engine rose rapidly within 30 seconds and were suspended in the room atmosphere. Within a 100 cm radius of the user, the scattering peaked at about 90 seconds. The particles were further diffused into the room with the passage of time, reaching a maximum at 210 seconds and gradually decreasing thereafter, confirming that the 4 x 4 m room had returned to equilibrium. The experiment was conducted under sealed conditions in the SCL without the use of any suction device inside or outside the oral cavity. Although the conditions did not faithfully reproduce the actual conditions in a dental clinic, we were able to obtain groundbreaking results that demonstrated for the first time the scattering of fine particles, eliminating various possible complications in the background. At present, our knowledge of the infectivity of COVID-19 from patients' oral cavity and saliva is still insufficient, and further studies and information are needed.

Venturi pump-critical orifice as an online and robust nanoparticle dilution probe for in situ powder stream characterization

The study of aerosol dynamics in nanomaterial synthesis and powder processing requires real time, fast, automatic and reliable characterization of particle size distribution and concentration. Online characterization techniques, such as the scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) allow these measurements for aerosol systems. Unfortunately, the SMPS was developed and optimized primarily for atmospheric sampling. However, reactors for the purposeful synthesis of nanoparticles operate in highly dynamic conditions with high concentrations, various pressures and even flammable, pyrophoric or toxic gases, demanding fast and reliable quenching, diluting and transporting the aerosols towards characterization. In the present work, a sampling and dilution probe based on the Venturi principle with different orifice sizes was characterized using polystyrene latex beads and salt. The obtained dilution rates were compared vs state of the art equations and precursor dilution from a silane reactor showing good agreement. The smallest orifices could clog but ethanol and pressurized gas allow their regeneration. • Study compares dilution probe capabilities on PSL beads, salt and silane vs models. • Probes useful for characterizing & monitoring aerosol reactors and generators. • Particularly attractive in systems with toxic, explosive or pyrophoric atmospheres. • Cheap, operational at different pressures, allows quenching fast aerosol dynamics. • Experiments agree with predictions PSL standard shows advantages over salt.

Aerosol-boundary layer dynamics and its effect on aerosol radiative forcing and atmospheric heating rate in the Indian Ocean sector of Southern Ocean

The study examines the thermodynamic structure of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) and its effect on the aerosol dynamics in the Indian Ocean sector of Southern Ocean (ISSO) between 30°S-67°S and 57°E-77°E. It includes observations of aerosols and meteorology collected during the Xth Southern Ocean Expedition conducted in December 2017. The results revealed the effect of frontal-region-specific air-sea coupling on the thermodynamic structure of MABL and its role in regulating aerosols in ISSO. The MABL over the subtropical front was unstable and formed a well-evolved mixed layer (≈2400 m) capped by low-level inversions (≈660 m). Convective activities in the Sub-Antarctic Frontal region were associated with the Agulhas Retroflection Current, which supported the formation of a well-developed mixed layer (≈1860 m). The mean estimates of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and black carbon (BC) mass concentrations were 0.095 ± 0.006 and 50 ± 14 ng m−3, respectively, and the resultant clear sky direct shortwave radiative forcing (DARF) and atmospheric heating rate (HR) were 1.32 ± 0.11 W m−2 and 0.022 ± 0.002 K day−1, respectively. In the polar front (PF) region, frequent mid-latitude cyclones led to highly stabilized MABL, supported low-level multi-layered clouds (>3-layers) and multiple high-level inversions (strength > 0.5 K m−1 > 3000 m). The clouds were mixed-phased with temperatures less than −12 °C at 3000 m altitude. Interestingly, there was higher loading of dust and BC aerosols (276 ± 24 ng m−3), maximum AOD (0.109 ± 0.009), clear sky DARF (1.73 ± 0.02 W m−2), and HR (0.029 ± 0.005 K day−1). This showed an accumulation of long-range advected anthropogenic aerosols within baroclinic-boundaries formed over the PF region. Specifically, in the region south of PF, weak convection caused weakly-unstable MABL with a single low-level inversion followed by no clouds/single-layer clouds. Predominant clean maritime air holding a small fraction of dust and BC accounted for lower estimates of AOD (0.071 ± 0.004), BC concentrations (90 ± 55 ng m−3) and associated clear sky DARF and HR were 1.16 ± 0.06 W m−2 and 0.019 ± 0.001 K day−1, respectively.

On the relation between apparent ion and total particle growth rates in the boreal forest and related chamber experiments

Abstract. The understanding of new particle formation and growth processes is critical for evaluating the role of aerosols in climate change. One of the knowledge gaps is the ion–particle interaction during the early growth process, especially in the sub-3 nm range, where direct observations are sparse. While molecular interactions would imply faster growth rates of ions compared to neutral particles, this phenomenon is not widely observed in the atmosphere. Here, we show field measurements in the boreal forest indicating a smaller apparent growth rate of the ion population compared to the total particles. We use aerosol dynamics simulations to demonstrate that this effect can be caused by the changing importance of ion-induced nucleation mechanisms during the day. We further compare these results with chamber experiments under similar conditions, where we demonstrate that this effect critically depends on the abundance of condensable vapors and the related strength of ion-induced nucleation. Our results imply that atmospheric ion growth rate measurements below 3 nm need to be evaluated very carefully as they do not represent condensational growth alone but are influenced by ion–particle population interactions.

#COVIDisAirborne: AI-enabled multiscale computational microscopy of delta SARS-CoV-2 in a respiratory aerosol.

We seek to completely revise current models of airborne transmission of respiratory viruses by providing never-before-seen atomic-level views of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within a respiratory aerosol. Our work dramatically extends the capabilities of multiscale computational microscopy to address the significant gaps that exist in current experimental methods, which are limited in their ability to interrogate aerosols at the atomic/molecular level and thus obscure our understanding of airborne transmission. We demonstrate how our integrated data-driven platform provides a new way of exploring the composition, structure, and dynamics of aerosols and aerosolized viruses, while driving simulation method development along several important axes. We present a series of initial scientific discoveries for the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, noting that the full scientific impact of this work has yet to be realized.

Haze Pollution in the Unstable Atmospheric Boundary Layer Over the West Bank of Taiwan Strait Induced by Regional Transport of PM2.5

AbstractThis study investigated the regional transport of particulate matter (PM2.5) leading to air pollution in Fuzhou, in the west bank of the Taiwan Strait (WBTS), which has a relatively good air quality with a lower aerosol optical depth than that of East China. The continental polluted aerosol zone over the coast of East China was identified as an aerosol transport belt, and the daily aerosol dynamics observed by MODIS remote sensing indicated the southward transport of fine particulate matter to the WBTS along the coast. The external air pollutants from regional transport contributed 84% of the PM2.5 detected in Fuzhou, while only 16% due to local emissions of air pollutants. The northerly winds of the cold front drove the southward transport of polluted air masses along the coast of the northwest Pacific from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) to the WBTS. The vertical mixing of air pollutants from the upper boundary layer to the surface layer could be conducive to regional‐transport‐induced haze pollution in this coastal area of the WBTS. Fuzhou is considered a receptor region of PM2.5 transport in Eastern China, and the source region is mainly from the YRD. The results of this study have significant implications on determining the source of pollution and controlling local air quality for good air quality regions. This study also shed some light on using multi‐satellites to fill the surface observation gaps in coast or nearshore areas, and to confirm the characteristics and passways of aerosol transport.

A new sorting algorithm-based merging weighted fraction Monte Carlo method for solving the population balance equation for particle coagulation dynamics

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to present a newly proposed and developed sorting algorithm-based merging weighted fraction Monte Carlo (SAMWFMC) method for solving the population balance equation for the weighted fraction coagulation process in aerosol dynamics with high computational accuracy and efficiency.Design/methodology/approachIn the new SAMWFMC method, the jump Markov process is constructed as the weighted fraction Monte Carlo (WFMC) method (Jiang and Chan, 2021) with a fraction function. Both adjustable and constant fraction functions are used to validate the computational accuracy and efficiency. A new merging scheme is also proposed to ensure a constant-number and constant-volume scheme.FindingsThe new SAMWFMC method is fully validated by comparing with existing analytical solutions for six benchmark test cases. The numerical results obtained from the SAMWFMC method with both adjustable and constant fraction functions show excellent agreement with the analytical solutions and low stochastic errors. Compared with the WFMC method (Jiang and Chan, 2021), the SAMWFMC method can significantly reduce the stochastic error in the total particle number concentration without increasing the stochastic errors in high-order moments of the particle size distribution at only slightly higher computational cost.Originality/valueThe WFMC method (Jiang and Chan, 2021) has a stringent restriction on the fraction functions, making few fraction functions applicable to the WFMC method except for several specifically selected adjustable fraction functions, while the stochastic error in the total particle number concentration is considerably large. The newly developed SAMWFMC method shows significant improvement and advantage in dealing with weighted fraction coagulation process in aerosol dynamics and provides an excellent potential to deal with various fraction functions with higher computational accuracy and efficiency.

Using in-situ CO2, PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 measurements to assess air change rates and indoor aerosol dynamics

A common technique to assess indoor air quality is to estimate a space's air change rate by quantifying the decay of a tracer species, such as metabolic carbon dioxide (CO2). However, CO2 decay does not fully represent the complexities of aerosol dynamics. In this study, low-cost sensors (QuantAQ/Aerodyne Research ARISense v200 and QuantAQ MODULAIR-PM) were used for continuous measurements of size-resolved particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) and CO2 in a university classroom across >5 months in 2021. Occupant-generated emissions from classroom activity and cleaning (fogging aerosols) events were used to determine the decay time constant of each pollutant, which varied substantially (e.g., 25–86 min for CO2, 14–66 min for class PM10 and 24–103 min, 25–82 min, and 18–56 min for fogging PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, respectively across 3 months in the Spring). The range of measured CO2 and PM decay rates was comparable, indicating that quantifying metabolic CO2 decay is a viable method to estimate the timescale of indoor aerosol decay, and that both species provide comparable air change rate estimates. However, the effect of deposition on PM decay was evident and uncertainties in using occupant-generated tracer decay to determine air change rates should be considered. These results provide insights into the practicality and limitations of using in-situ CO2 and PM decay measurements to assess ventilation, and of using CO2 decay to estimate aerosol decay. This work also highlights the importance of performing continuous measurements over extended periods of time to quantify a range of air change rates.

Development and validation of a new cloud simulation experiment for lab-based aerosol-cloud studies.

The Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) cloud expansion chamber with a volume of 84m3 was extended for the small cloud expansion chamber AIDA mini (AIDAm) with a volume of 20 L. AIDAm is located in the cold room of AIDA and can perform automated ice-nucleation measurements over longer time periods of hours to days. AIDAm samples from the AIDA chamber, which acts as a reservoir of atmospheric aerosol types, which can slowly be modified by physical or chemical processes similar to those occurring in the atmosphere. AIDAm was validated for accurate ice-nucleation temperature control by measuring homogeneous freezing of pure water droplets at temperatures around -34 °C and for immersion freezing induced by dust aerosol particles in the temperature range between -20 and -30 °C. Further validation experiments at cirrus cloud temperatures of -45 °C revealed that AIDAm can distinguish between heterogeneous ice formation on mineral dust aerosols and homogeneous freezing of sulfuric acid solution particles. The contribution of homogeneous and heterogeneous ice formation processes to the ice-nucleation activity of coated dust particles was investigated in a 7 h long experiment, where solid dust particles were slowly coated with sulfuric acid. The continuous AIDAm measurements with a time resolution of 6minshowed a substantial suppression of the heterogeneous freezing phenomenon and an increasing role of homogeneous freezing while the coating amount was slowly increased. This experiment proved the capability of AIDAm to sensitively detect small changes in the ice-nucleation ability of aerosols, which undergo slow processing like chemical surface coating.

Expansion of droplets during speaking and singing in Japanese.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of infection clusters associated with choral singing have been reported. Singing generates droplets and carries the risk of spreading infection. However, no reports have explored droplet flight and aerosol production rates by singing and speaking in Japanese. First, we conducted an observation experiment evaluating the maximum flight distance and number of droplets generated by singing in Japanese, using a high-speed camera and particle counter. Twenty amateur choir members, 10 male and 10 female (five members for each of the four voices), participated in the experiment. Subsequently, although the maximum distance that droplets traveled by singing in Japanese was 61 cm for men (median of 46.5, interquartile range, 36–57) and 56 cm for women (median of 27.5, interquartile range, 20–50), droplets were observed anteriorly and laterally to be up to 66.8 cm. At the singer’s mouth, ≥ 5 μm droplets were observed, whereas not observed at 1 meter toward the front of the singers in women and men, respectively. In German singing, droplets were observed up to 111 cm toward the front of the singer, possibly reflecting differences in pronunciation. In Japanese reading aloud, droplets were also observed up to 47 cm toward the front, whereas no droplet dispersion was observed by speaking the Japanese /a/ vowel or singing with wearing surgical mask toward the front. The aerosols produced when reading singing the /u/ vowels were significantly higher than those in other vowels. When singing in a choral group, keeping a sufficient distance at the front and side is recommended in minimizing infectious spread. If distance is not possible, practicing with /a/ vowels and avoiding consonants may be an alternative method. Our observations lasted only 50 seconds per song, and further observational studies are needed to determine the dynamics of aerosols that stay for long periods.

A comprehensive modelling approach to estimate the transmissibility of coronavirus and its variants from infected subjects in indoor environments

A central issue in assessing the airborne risk of COVID-19 infections in indoor spaces pertains to linking the viral load in infected subjects to the lung deposition probability in exposed individuals through comprehensive aerosol dynamics modelling. In this paper, we achieve this by combining aerosol processes (evaporation, dispersion, settling, lung deposition) with a novel double Poisson model to estimate the probability that at least one carrier particle containing at least one virion will be deposited in the lungs and infect a susceptible individual. Multiple emission scenarios are considered. Unlike the hitherto used single Poisson models, the double Poisson model accounts for fluctuations in the number of carrier particles deposited in the lung in addition to the fluctuations in the virion number per carrier particle. The model demonstrates that the risk of infection for 10-min indoor exposure increases from 1 to 50% as the viral load in the droplets ejected from the infected subject increases from 2 × 108 to 2 × 1010 RNA copies/mL. Being based on well-established aerosol science and statistical principles, the present approach puts airborne risk assessment methodology on a sound formalistic footing, thereby reducing avoidable epistemic uncertainties in estimating relative transmissibilities of different coronavirus variants quantified by different viral loads.

CFD Simulation of Particle-Laden Flow in a 3D Differentially Heated Cavity Using Coarse Large Eddy Simulation

Particulate flow in closed space is involved in many engineering applications. In this paper, the prediction of particle removal is investigated in a thermally driven 3D cavity at turbulent Rayleigh number Ra = 109 using Coarse Large Eddy Simulation (CLES). The depletion dynamics of SiO2 aerosol with aerodynamic diameters between 1.4 and 14 µm is reported in an Euler/Lagrange framework. The main focus of this work is therefore to assess the effect of the subgrid-scale motions on the prediction of the particulate flow in a buoyancy driven 3D cavity flow when the mesh resolution is coarse and below optimal LES standards. The research is motivated by the feasibility of modeling more complex particulate flows with reduced CPU cost.The cubical cavity of 0.7 m side-length is set to have a temperature difference of 39 K between the two facing cold and hot vertical walls. As a first step, the carrier fluid flow was validated by comparing the first and second-moment statistics against both previous well-resolved LES and experimental databases [Kalilainen (J. Aero Sci. 100:73–87, 2016); Dehbi (J. Aero. Sci. 103:67–82, 2017)]. First moment Eulerian statistics show a very good match with the reference data both qualitatively and quantitatively, whereas higher moments show underprediction due to the lesser spatial resolution. In a second step, six particle swarms spanning a wide range of particle Stokes numbers were computed to predict particle depletion. In particular, predictions of 1.4 and 3.5 µm particles were compared to LES and available experimental data. Particles of low inertia i.e. dp < 3.5 µm are more affected by the SGS effects, while bigger ones i.e. dp = 3.5–14 µm exhibit much less grid-dependency. Lagrangian statistics reported in both qualitative and quantitative fashions show globally a very good agreement with reference LES and experimental databases at a fraction of the CPU power needed for optimal LES.

Modeling within-host and aerosol dynamics of SARS-CoV-2: The relationship with infectiousness.

The relationship between transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the amount of virus present in the proximity of a susceptible host is not understood. Here, we developed a within-host and aerosol mathematical model and used it to determine the relationship between viral kinetics in the upper respiratory track, viral kinetics in the aerosols, and new transmissions in golden hamsters challenged with SARS-CoV-2. We determined that infectious virus shedding early in infection correlates with transmission events, shedding of infectious virus diminishes late in the infection, and high viral RNA levels late in the infection are a poor indicator of transmission. We further showed that viral infectiousness increases in a density dependent manner with viral RNA and that their relative ratio is time-dependent. Such information is useful for designing interventions.

Challenges of integrating aerosol dynamics into SARS-CoV-2 transmission models

Challenges of integrating aerosol dynamics into SARS-CoV-2 transmission models

Droplet size distribution, atomization mechanism and dynamics of dental aerosols

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining safety in dental operations has challenged health care providers and policy makers. Studies on dental aerosols often focus on bacterial viability or particle size measurements inside dental offices during and after dental procedures, which limits their conclusions to specific cases. Fundamental understanding on atomization mechanism and dynamics of dental aerosols are needed while assessing the risks. Most dental instruments feature a build-in atomizer. Dental aerosols that are produced by ultrasonic or rotary atomization are considered to pose the highest risks. In this work, we aimed to characterize dental aerosols produced by both methods, namely by Mectron PIEZOSURGERY® and KaVo EXPERTtorque™. Droplet size distributions and velocities were measured with a high-speed camera and a rail system. By fitting the data to probability density distributions and using empirical equations to predict droplet sizes, we were able to postulate the main factors that determine droplet sizes. Both dental instruments had wide size distributions including small droplets. Droplet size distribution changed based on operational parameters such as liquid flow rate or air pressure. With a larger fraction of small droplets, rotary atomization poses a higher risk. With the measured velocities reaching up to 5 m s−1, droplets can easily reach the dentist in a few seconds. Small droplets can evaporate completely before reaching the ground and can be suspended in the air for a long time. We suggest that relative humidity in dental offices are adjusted to 50% to prevent fast evaporation while maintaining comfort in the office. This can reduce the risk of disease transmission among patients. We recommend that dentists wear a face shield and N95/FFP2/KN95 masks instead of surgical masks. We believe that this work gives health-care professionals, policy makers and engineers who design dental instruments insights into a safer dental practice.

The Research of Aerosol and Microscope Fungi Accumulation Dynamics Inside the Air of a Hermetic Inhabited Facility During the 4-Month Isolation Experiment SIRIUS-19

The Research of Aerosol and Microscope Fungi Accumulation Dynamics Inside the Air of a Hermetic Inhabited Facility During the 4-Month Isolation Experiment SIRIUS-19

Role of gas–molecular cluster–aerosol dynamics in atmospheric new-particle formation

New-particle formation from vapors through molecular cluster formation is a central process affecting atmospheric aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei numbers, and a significant source of uncertainty in assessments of aerosol radiative forcing. While advances in experimental and computational methods provide improved assessments of particle formation rates from different species, the standard approach to implement these data in aerosol models rests on highly simplifying assumptions concerning gas–cluster–aerosol dynamics. To quantify the effects of the simplifications, we develop an open-source tool for explicitly simulating the dynamics of the complete particle size spectrum from vapor molecules and molecular clusters to larger aerosols for multi-compound new-particle formation. We demonstrate that the simplified treatment is a reasonable approximation for particle formation from weakly clustering chemical compounds, but results in overprediction of particle numbers and of the contribution of new-particle formation to cloud condensation nuclei for strongly clustering, low-concentration trace gases. The new explicit approach circumvents these issues, thus enabling robust model–measurement comparisons, improved assessment of the importance of different particle formation agents, and construction of optimal simplifications for large-scale models.

Simulation of the Formation and Growth of Soot Aerosol Particles in a Premixed Combustion Process Using a Soot Aerosol Dynamics Model

Recently, an aerosol dynamics model—the Soot Aggregate Moment Model (SAMM)—that can efficiently trace the size distribution and morphology of soot particles was developed. In order to examine the applicability of SAMM in association with open-source CFD and combustion chemistry solvers, the formation and growth of soot particles in a premixed ethylene/air combustion were simulated by connecting SAMM with OpenSMOKE++ in this study. The simulation results were compared with available measurements and with the results of a previous study conducted using SAMM connected with an in-house CFD code and the CHEMKIN combustion chemistry package. Both CHEMKIN and OpenSMOKE++ underestimated C2H2 concentration compared to previous measurements, with deviation from the measured data being smaller for OpenSMOKE++. The chemical mechanism adopted in the CHEMKIN package was found to underestimate pyrene concentration by a factor of several tens. OpenSMOKE++ predicted much higher soot precursor concentrations than CHEMKIN, leading to a higher nucleation rate and a faster surface growth in the latter part of the reactor. This resulted in a reasonable soot production rate without introducing an artificial condensation enhancement factor. The overestimation of low-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the latter part of the reactor and the neglect of sintering led to an overprediction of soot production and primary particle number. This result indicates that accounting only for obliteration without sintering in SAMM could not simulate the merging of primary particles sufficiently. This indication merits further investigation.

Understanding lifetime and dispersion of cough-emitted droplets in air.

To understand the exact transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 and to explore effects of time, space and indoor environment on the dynamics of droplets and aerosols, rigorous testing and observation must be conducted. In the current work, the spatial and temporal dispersions of aerosol droplets from a simulated cough were comprehensively examined over a long duration (70min). An artificial cough generator was constructed to generate reliably repeatable respiratory ejecta. The measurements were performed at different locations in front (along the axial direction and off-axis) and behind the source in a sealed experimental enclosure. Aerosols of 0.3-10µm (around 20% of the maximum nuclei count) were shown to persist for a very long time in a still environment, and this has a substantial implication for airborne disease transmission. The experiments demonstrated that a ventilation system could reduce the total aerosol volume and the droplet lifetime significantly. To explain the experimental observations in more detail and to understand the droplet in-air behaviour at various ambient temperatures and relative humidity, numerical simulations were performed using the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach. The simulations show that many of the small droplets remain suspended in the air over time instead of falling to the ground.

Description and evaluation of the community aerosol dynamics model MAFOR v2.0

Abstract. Numerical models are needed for evaluating aerosol processes in the atmosphere in state-of-the-art chemical transport models, urban-scale dispersion models, and climatic models. This article describes a publicly available aerosol dynamics model, MAFOR (Multicomponent Aerosol FORmation model; version 2.0); we address the main structure of the model, including the types of operation and the treatments of the aerosol processes. The model simultaneously solves the time evolution of both the particle number and the mass concentrations of aerosol components in each size section. In this way, the model can also allow for changes in the average density of particles. An evaluation of the model is also presented against a high-resolution observational dataset in a street canyon located in the centre of Helsinki (Finland) during afternoon traffic rush hour on 13 December 2010. The experimental data included measurements at different locations in the street canyon of ultrafine particles, black carbon, and fine particulate mass PM1. This evaluation has also included an intercomparison with the corresponding predictions of two other prominent aerosol dynamics models, AEROFOR and SALSA. All three models simulated the decrease in the measured total particle number concentrations fairly well with increasing distance from the vehicular emission source. The MAFOR model reproduced the evolution of the observed particle number size distributions more accurately than the other two models. The MAFOR model also predicted the variation of the concentration of PM1 better than the SALSA model. We also analysed the relative importance of various aerosol processes based on the predictions of the three models. As expected, atmospheric dilution dominated over other processes; dry deposition was the second most significant process. Numerical sensitivity tests with the MAFOR model revealed that the uncertainties associated with the properties of the condensing organic vapours affected only the size range of particles smaller than 10 nm in diameter. These uncertainties therefore do not significantly affect the predictions of the whole of the number size distribution and the total number concentration. The MAFOR model version 2 is well documented and versatile to use, providing a range of alternative parameterizations for various aerosol processes. The model includes an efficient numerical integration of particle number and mass concentrations, an operator splitting of processes, and the use of a fixed sectional method. The model could be used as a module in various atmospheric and climatic models.