Mode Of Size Distribution Research Articles

Experimental investigation on modes of spray formation, droplet size and size distribution in a spinning disc atomizer

Experimental investigation on modes of spray formation, droplet size and size distribution in a spinning disc atomizer

Cloud Droplet Size Distributions Governed by Condensation, Collision–Coalescence, and Sedimentation. Part II: Analytical Expressions for Size Distribution Shape and Asymptotic Behavior for Large-Droplet Tails

Abstract Droplet growth via condensation and collision–coalescence has been investigated in the limit of very weak coalescence growth: a collector-mode approximation emerges for coalescence growth that consists solely of droplets in the tail collecting droplets near the main mode of the cloud droplet size distribution and that does not deplete the mode. In this second part, the approximation is formalized, leading to a simplified form of the collision–coalescence term in the equation governing the evolution of the droplet size distribution. This form allows for analytical solutions for transient growth and for steady-state distributions representing a balance between condensation, collision–coalescence growth, and removal by sedimentation. The solutions lead to an expression for the drizzle growth time, formally, the finite time in which a droplet approaches infinite size. The drizzle growth time is related to a transition radius at which droplet growth switches from condensation-dominated to coalescence-dominated. The solutions also provide a dimensionless group that governs the steady-state distribution shape, which is referred to as the drizzle number. The solutions are checked by comparing to a Monte Carlo model developed in part 1, and it is found that the analytical solution is excellent when the drizzle number is much greater than unity, which is the typical situation for the microphysical conditions achievable in a convection–cloud chamber. The steady-state size distribution has the form of a modified gamma distribution, with a transition to a power-law tail at a sufficiently large radius. The solutions are not only formally valid for a convection–cloud chamber but can also be extended to shallow, mixed-layer clouds such as mixing fogs.

Numerical study of aluminum combustion with agglomerate size distribution in solid rocket motor

The aluminum agglomerate size distribution plays an important role in influencing the particle distributed combustion in motor, which subsequently affects the performance of solid rocket motor significantly. In this work, a three-phase model to describe distributed combustion of aluminum agglomerates is established based on the Eulerian-Lagrangian method. Then, the agglomerate size, including mono size and distributed size, is studied to reveal its effect on aluminum combustion and motor flow field. The simulated results indicate that the increasing agglomerate mono size observes the obvious decrease of the average temperature inside the motor combustion chamber, implying the low combustion efficiency of large agglomerate size. When considering the agglomerate size distribution, the size distribution mode and the mean size D43 determine the combustion efficiency together. In particular, even the mean size is similar, with different distribution mode, like skewed distribution, bimodal or trimodal distribution, the combustion efficiency and flow field parameters are nonnegligible different. However, when the size distribution mode is the same and the peak range is similar, the mean size D43 becomes the only and predominant factor as the mono size.

Aerosol size distribution properties associated with cold-air outbreaks in the Norwegian Arctic

Abstract. The aerosol particles serving as cloud condensation and ice nuclei contribute to key cloud processes associated with cold-air outbreak (CAO) events but are poorly constrained in climate models due to sparse observations. Here we retrieve aerosol number size distribution modes from measurements at Andenes, Norway, during the Cold-Air Outbreaks in the Marine Boundary Layer Experiment (COMBLE) and at Zeppelin Observatory, approximately 1000 km upwind from Andenes at Svalbard. During CAO events at Andenes, the sea-spray-mode number concentration is correlated with strong over-ocean winds with a mean of 8±4 cm−3 that is 71 % higher than during non-CAO conditions. Additionally, during CAO events at Andenes, the mean Hoppel minimum diameter is 6 nm smaller than during non-CAO conditions, though the estimated supersaturation is lower, and the mean number concentration of particles that likely activated in-cloud is 109±61 cm−3 with no statistically significant difference from the non-CAO mean of 99±66 cm−3. For CAO trajectories between Zeppelin Observatory and Andenes, the upwind-to-downwind change in number concentration is the largest for the accumulation mode with a mean decrease of 93±95 cm−3, likely attributable primarily to precipitation scavenging. These characteristic properties of aerosol number size distributions during CAO events provide guidance for evaluating CAO aerosol–cloud interaction processes in models.

Updimensioning strategy derived from synthetic equiaxed grain structures for approximating 3D grain size distributions from 2D visualizations with 1D parameters

We generated synthetic equiaxed grain structures using computer graphics software to explore the relationship between various grain size determination methods and true three-dimensional (3D) grain diameters. Mirroring grain measurement techniques, the synthetic 3D grain structures are imaged as 2D micrographs which are measured to yield 1D grain size parameters. Synthetic grain structures provide data at a mass scale and permit exploration of both polished and fractured surface micrographs, revealing one-to-one correspondence between exposed 2D grain cross-sections and individual 3D grains. Analysis of this correspondence yielded a procedure to approximate 3D equiaxed grain size and volume distributions based on the mode of the 2D fractograph grain size distribution. The 3D approximation procedure is shown to be less susceptible to different imaging conditions that affect small, undiscernible grains compared to the standard planimetric and linear intercept methods, which by design also tend to underestimate the 3D grain diameter. The procedure requires larger sample sizes to lower variance and a deeper analysis which could become more practical with machine learning (ML) models for grain boundary segmentation, which synthetic grain structures can help train. This work lays the foundation for analyzing other grain distributions such as columnar and composite grains in similar depth.

Lentil protein isolate (Lens culinaris) subjected to ultrasound treatment combined or not with heat-treatment: structural characterization and ability to stabilize high internal phase emulsions

This study evaluated the effect of ultrasound treatment combined or not with heat treatment applied to lentil protein isolate (LPI) aiming to enhance its ability to stabilize high internal phase emulsions (HIPE). LPI dispersion (2%, w/w) was ultrasound-treated at 60% (UA) and 70% (UB) amplitude for 7 min; these samples were subjected to and then heat treatments at 70 °C (UAT70 and UBT70, respectively) or 80 °C (UAT80 and UBT80, respectively) for 20 min. HIPEs were produced with 25% untreated and treated LPI dispersions and 75% soybean oil using a rotor–stator (15,500 rpm/1 min). The LPI dispersions were evaluated for particle size, solubility, differential scanning calorimetry, electrophoresis, secondary structure estimation (circular dichroism and FT-IR), intrinsic fluorescence, surface hydrophobicity, and free sulfhydryl groups content. The HIPEs were evaluated for droplet size, morphology, rheology, centrifugal stability, and the Turbiscan test. Ultrasound treatment decreased LPI dispersions’ particle size (∼80%) and increased solubility (∼90%). Intrinsic fluorescence and surface hydrophobicity confirmed LPI modification due to the exposure to hydrophobic patches. The combination of ultrasound and heat treatments resulted in a reduction in the free sulfhydryl group content of LPI. HIPEs produced with ultrasound-heat-treated LPI had a lower droplet size distribution mode, greater oil retention values in the HIPE structure (> 98%), lower Turbiscan stability index (< 2), and a firmer and more homogeneous appearance compared to HIPE produced with untreated LPI, indicating higher stability for the HIPEs stabilized by treated LPI. Therefore, combining ultrasound and heat treatments could be an effective method for the functional modification of lentil proteins, allowing their application as HIPE emulsifiers.

Multiscale modification of graphdiyne-based electrodes and diffusion kinetics analysis of lithium ions

The diffusion of lithium ions is highly related to the chemical structure, packing mode, and pore size distribution of the electrode materials. In this paper, a multiscale modification strategy is performed to investigate the correlation between the chemical structure and diffusion kinetics of lithium ions in graphdiyne (GDY) based electrodes. Various electrochemical tests show consistent results that hydrogen-substituted GDY has the fastest lithium-ion diffusion rate, and the doping of Cl and F atoms with large atomic radii leads to slower lithium-ion diffusion in the system. The functional groups (H, Cl, F) introduced in the GDY-based electrodes not only regulate the pore size of the materials but also modulate the binding energy with lithium ions. chlorine-substituted GDY shows a higher diffusion coefficient than that of fluorine-substituted GDY for proper affinity to lithium. In addition, the specific surface area and the pore size distribution also collectively contribute to the differences in lithium-ion diffusion. Finally, the lithium storage mechanism of substituted GDY electrodes is explored. Our strategy sheds some light on the design and fabrication of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Palaeoenvironmental and Palaeoclimatic Conditions in the Bhimtal Valley, Kumaun Lesser Himalaya, Between 40 and 24 ka Using Granulometric Analysis

In this research, we conducted a detailed granulometric analysis of 9.5 m thick palaeolake succession, exposed at Bilaspur (Bhimtal) in the Kumaun Lesser Himalaya to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions. We carried out statistical parameters of grain-size data (i.e., standard deviation, kurtosis, and skewness, bivariate plots), and end member modelling analysis (EMMA) and our study reveal sediment’s unimodal and bimodal nature, deposited via fluvial action under low to high energy environmental conditions since the origin of the lake. Some parts of the deposit show poorly sorted and mixed character (leptokurtic to platykurtic) of sediments, indicating that the sediments were primarily transported from the proximal area of the lake basin under low-energy environmental conditions. The finely skewed and poorly sorted sediments show different modes of grain size distribution, which are attributed to fluctuations in the hydrodynamic conditions of the lake. The arid climatic conditions prevailed in the valley from ca. 42 to 40 ka BP, followed by warm and moist conditions from ca. 40 to 39 ka BP. The arid conditions under the low rainfall regime were experienced by the valley from ca. 39 to 30 ka BP, while it exercised another episode of moist and warmer conditions from ca. 30 to 24 ka BP. Further, the end-Member Modelling Analysis (EMMA) shows four end members (EM1-EM4) with different climatic conditions during the deposition, e.g., clay to fine silt-size particles reflecting higher lake levels under warm-wet climatic conditions, coarse silt fraction representing moderate energy conditions, and fine to coarse sand fractions indicating shallow lake-level conditions in the arid climatic conditions as well higher energy flow. The interpretation of energy conditions in the lake and catchment area by using various methods reveals different palaeoenvironmental conditions during the sediment deposition.

Bimodal aerosol distribution in Venus' upper haze from joint SPICAV-UV and -IR observations on Venus Express

Spectroscopic solar occultation measurements by the Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Venus/Solar Occultation at Infrared instrument (SPICAV/SOIR) onboard the Venus Express orbiter gave new data about upper haze aerosol properties, its vertical distribution and spatial and temporal variations. Early study with three channels of SPICAV/SOIR instrument using a few selected orbits indicated presence of two aerosol modes in particle size distribution (Wilquet et al., 2009). Analysis of aerosol properties from the SPICAV−IR spectrometer for the whole Venus Express data set obtained from May 2006 till November 2014 has proved it for some occultations (Luginin et al., 2016). In this work, we report retrieval of the upper haze (81–100 km) aerosol properties from 101 simultaneous SPICAV−UV and –IR solar occultation sessions acquired between March 2007 and January 2013. A joint analysis of the data from two spectrometers allowed us to characterize the size distribution ∼10 km higher in the atmosphere compared to previous analysis and to detect bimodal distribution in ∼50% of observations previously believed to be unimodal. At altitudes 81–92 km bimodality is observed in >50% of cases. Mode 2 particles are detected up to 98 km and mode 1 up to 100 km. Mean radius equals 0.14 ± 0.03 μm for mode 1 and 0.78 ± 0.18 μm for mode 2. Number density profiles for both modes of particles exponentially decrease with altitude, starting from 50 cm−3 and 0.3 cm−3 at 82 km for mode 1 and mode 2, respectively, and reaching 3 cm−3 at 98 km for mode 1 and 0.03 cm−3 at 94 km for mode 2.

Effect of Grain Size Distribution on Pore Size Distribution Characteristics in a Conglomerate Reservoir from an Alluvial Fan Via Artificial Rock Approach

Summary Conglomerate is characterized by a multiscale grain stacking structure and various pore size distribution modes (PSDMs), significantly affecting multiphase fluid movement and transport in porous media. The multimodal structure and complicated PSDM are related to grain size distribution. However, the relationship between grain size distribution and pore structure characteristics remains unclear, which makes it hard to investigate using natural rocks affected by a single factor. Herein, a newly developed full-pore-scale artificial rock approach was used in this work to provide the ideal samples for experimental research. A bimodal distribution model was adopted to characterize the grain size distribution features quantitatively. Furthermore, the relationship between lithofacies, permeability, and PSDM was analyzed. The results demonstrate that grain size distribution includes coarse grain distribution (CGD) and fine grain distribution (FGD). As the average value of FGD increases, the permeability of conglomerate and sandstone have different decreasing trends. The increases in the grain size difference between CGD and FGD can decrease the most frequent and average pore radius, while the PSDM of conglomerate transforms from a steep peak shape to a hill shape. Furthermore, PSDM relates to permeability and lithofacies in an alluvial fan environment. The maximum permeability of sandstone with PSDM of hill shape is about 40 md while that of conglomerate is about 70 md. The grain and pore size distribution of artificial rocks is highly similar to that of natural rocks compared with natural rocks within the alluvial fan of Karamay conglomerate reservoirs. The findings are significant for robust determination in reservoir evaluation and development.

Differentiated SnSb grain size distribution for improved tribological properties of Babbitt alloy

PurposeThe grain size and grain distribution mode have a significant impact on the tribological properties of Babbitt alloy. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of differentiated SnSb grain size distribution on the improvement of tribological properties of Babbitt alloy.Design/methodology/approachBabbitt (marked by babbitt-cr), with a differentiated SnSb grain size distribution, was fabricated using a selective zone laser surface treatment. Bare Babbitt with coarse SnSb grain was marked as babbitt-c, and Babbitt with refined SnSb grain was marked as babbitt-r. The microstructure, microhardness and wettability of specimens were tested. The tribological properties of babbitt-c, babbitt-r and babbitt-cr were evaluated under dry and lubricated conditions.FindingsThe microstructure transforms from single coarse SnSb grain distribution or single refined SnSb grain distribution to differentiated SnSb grain size distribution, as a result of selective zone laser surface treatment. Among three specimens of microhardness, babbitt-cr showed the highest microhardness. The lipophilicity property of babbitt-cr was better compared to babbitt-c. A mixture of coarse and refined grain is beneficial to improve the tribological properties of Babbitt alloy under dry condition. Furthermore, compared with babbitt-c, the wear resistance of babbitt-cr was enhanced under lubricated condition. However, the anti-wear property of babbitt-cr was not significantly improved relative to babbitt-r with an increase in the loads.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates that modulated different grain size alternating distribution modes can improve the tribological properties of Babbitt alloy.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-09-2022-0259/

Lagrangian wavelet analysis of turbulence modulation in particle–liquid mixing flows

A new experimental–theoretical framework has been developed to investigate turbulence and turbulence modulation in a two-phase multicomponent particle–liquid flow in a mechanically agitated vessel. A discrete wavelet transform is used to decompose long-term three-dimensional Lagrangian trajectories of flow phases, acquired by a technique of positron emission particle tracking, into their deterministic and stochastic sub-trajectories. The sub-trajectories are then used to construct the different-scale local velocity and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) fields of the two-phase flow. The effects of the particle size and size distribution mode (mono, binary, and polydisperse), particle concentration, impeller agitation speed, and pumping mode on turbulence intensity are investigated. Amongst these factors, the particle size, impeller pumping mode, and particle size distribution mode have a significant impact on liquid turbulence. The presence of large particles enhances liquid turbulence and broadens the region in the vessel characterized by high local TKE values. Results also show that a down-pumping pitched-blade turbine generates significantly greater local maxima in the TKE field, which tend to be more localized in the impeller discharge stream. In addition, binary or polydisperse suspensions containing higher fractions of larger particles produce higher turbulence intensities in the carrier phase. The detailed information obtained on the turbulence intensity is crucial for better understanding of the dynamics of particle–liquid flows inside mixing vessels to aid the rational design of these units.

Preparation of Al2O3 magnetic abrasives by combining plasma molten metal powder with sprayed abrasive powder

Magnetic abrasives play a significant role in finishing processes; however, existing magnetic abrasive particles have limited their application in industry due to poor grinding performance and low service life. In this paper, high-performance iron-based spherical Al2O3 magnetic abrasives were prepared via combining plasma molten metal powder with sprayed abrasive power. Firstly, the effects of the co-gas flow rate and current on the overall melting state of the iron matrix powder were studied to obtain the suitable process parameters; then, the magnetic abrasives were prepared by increasing the hydrogen flow rate by 25% under this process parameter, and the microscopic morphology, phase composition, bonding mode, magnetic permeability and particle size distribution of the magnetic abrasives were analyzed; finally, the grinding experiments were conducted on 316 L stainless steel. The results show that the overall fusion state of the iron matrix powder is good under the parameters of current 700 A, argon flow rate 1000 L/h and hydrogen flow rate 80 L/h. The magnetic abrasives have a very high sphericity, and the alumina abrasives with sharp cutting edges are uniformly and compactly embedded into the iron matrix and form a tight mechanical bond with it; the particle size distribution of the magnetic abrasives accounts for 85% of the iron matrix; the magnetic abrasives have excellent grinding performance. The magnetic abrasives preparation approach described in this paper has the characteristics of economy and high performance, and is expected to be used for industrial mass production.

Characterizing respiratory aerosol emissions during sustained phonation.

ObjectiveTo elucidate the role of phonation frequency (i.e., pitch) and intensity of speech on respiratory aerosol emissions during sustained phonations.MethodsRespiratory aerosol emissions are measured in 40 (24 males and 16 females) healthy, non-trained singers phonating the phoneme /a/ at seven specific frequencies at varying vocal intensity levels.ResultsIncreasing frequency of phonation was positively correlated with particle production (r = 0.28, p < 0.001). Particle production rate was also positively correlated (r = 0.37, p < 0.001) with the vocal intensity of phonation, confirming previously reported findings. The primary mode (particle diameter ~0.6 μm) and width of the particle number size distribution were independent of frequency and vocal intensity. Regression models of the particle production rate using frequency, vocal intensity, and the individual subject as predictor variables only produced goodness of fit of adjusted R2 = 40% (p < 0.001). Finally, it is proposed that superemitters be defined as statistical outliers, which resulted in the identification of one superemitter in the sample of 40 participants.SignificanceThe results suggest there remain unexplored effects (e.g., biomechanical, environmental, behavioral, etc.) that contribute to the high variability in respiratory particle production rates, which ranged from 0.2 particles/s to 142 particles/s across all trials. This is evidenced as well by changes in the distribution of participant particle production that transitions to a more bimodal distribution (second mode at particle diameter ~2 μm) at higher frequencies and vocal intensity levels.

Dependency of the impacts of geoengineering on the stratospheric sulfur injection strategy – Part 1: Intercomparison of modal and sectional aerosol modules

Abstract. Injecting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere with the intent to create an artificial reflective aerosol layer is one of the most studied options for solar radiation management. Previous modelling studies have shown that stratospheric sulfur injections have the potential to compensate for the greenhouse-gas-induced warming at the global scale. However, there is significant diversity in the modelled radiative forcing from stratospheric aerosols depending on the model and on which strategy is used to inject sulfur into the stratosphere. Until now, it has not been clear how the evolution of the aerosols and their resulting radiative forcing depends on the aerosol microphysical scheme used – that is, if aerosols are represented by a modal or sectional distribution. Here, we have studied different spatio-temporal injection strategies with different injection magnitudes using the aerosol–climate model ECHAM-HAMMOZ with two aerosol microphysical modules: the sectional module SALSA (Sectional Aerosol module for Large Scale Applications) and the modal module M7. We found significant differences in the model responses depending on the aerosol microphysical module used. In a case where SO2 was injected continuously in the equatorial stratosphere, simulations with SALSA produced an 88 %–154 % higher all-sky net radiative forcing than simulations with M7 for injection rates from 1 to 100 Tg (S) yr−1. These large differences are identified to be caused by two main factors. First, the competition between nucleation and condensation: while injected sulfur tends to produce new particles at the expense of gaseous sulfuric acid condensing on pre-existing particles in the SALSA module, most of the gaseous sulfuric acid partitions to particles via condensation at the expense of new particle formation in the M7 module. Thus, the effective radii of stratospheric aerosols were 10 %–52 % larger in M7 than in SALSA, depending on the injection rate and strategy. Second, the treatment of the modal size distribution in M7 limits the growth of the accumulation mode which results in a local minimum in the aerosol number size distribution between the accumulation and coarse modes. This local minimum is in the size range where the scattering of solar radiation is most efficient. We also found that different spatial-temporal injection strategies have a significant impact on the magnitude and zonal distribution of radiative forcing. Based on simulations with various injection rates using SALSA, the most efficient studied injection strategy produced a 33 %–42 % radiative forcing compared with the least efficient strategy, whereas simulations with M7 showed an even larger difference of 48 %–116 %. Differences in zonal mean radiative forcing were even larger than that. We also show that a consequent stratospheric heating and its impact on the quasi-biennial oscillation depend on both the injection strategy and the aerosol microphysical model. Overall, these results highlight the crucial impact of aerosol microphysics on the physical properties of stratospheric aerosol which, in turn, causes significant uncertainties in estimating the climate impacts of stratospheric sulfur injections.

Inhalable cigarette-burning particles: Size-resolved chemical composition and mixing state

This study analyzed the size-resolved chemical compositions of cigarette-burning particles (CBPs). CBPs in the size range of 0.2–2.0 μm were characterized using a single particle mass spectrometer (SPAMS). CBPs were found to contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organonitrate, vinylpyridine, indene, guaiacol, methylindane, and metals such as Fe, Cr, Mn, and Cu. Fresh CBPs showed a single modal size distribution which peaked at 0.40 μm. CBPs in the size range of 0.5–0.1 μm contained more biomass burning markers (K+, K2Cl+, and levoglucosan), sulfate, naphthalene, and methylindane than CBPs in the size range of 0.2–0.5 μm. Nicotine is favorable to uptake on large particles (>0.5 μm). Among all particles, 57% contained PAHs. Heavy metals Fe, Mn, Cr, and Cu had mixing ratios of 0.06, 0.57, 0.26, and 0.34 respectively; nicotine and guaiacol had mixing ratios of 0.26 and 0.27; and vinylpyridine, indene, and methylindane had mixing ratios of 0.54, 0.55, and 0.65 respectively. Four particle types were resolved: cigarette-burning biomass burning (CB-BB, 50.3%), CB-BB-Metals (49.3%), CB-Nicotine (0.3%), and CB-Aged (0.1%). These results improve the scientific understanding of CBPs and provide useful references for smoking exposure studies that consider the size-resolved chemical compositions and mixing states of particle-phase components. The result can also benefit the study of exposure to secondhand smoking.

Cloud activation properties of aerosol particles in a continental Central European urban environment

Abstract. Collocated measurements using a condensation particle counter, differential mobility particle sizer and cloud condensation nuclei counter were realised in parallel in central Budapest from 15 April 2019 to 14 April 2020 to gain insight into the cloud activation properties of urban aerosol particles. The median total particle number concentration was 10.1 × 103 cm−3. The median concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at water vapour supersaturation (S) values of 0.1 %, 0.2 %, 0.3 %, 0.5 % and 1.0 % were 0.59, 1.09, 1.39, 1.80 and 2.5 × 103 cm−3, respectively. The CCN concentrations represented 7–27 % of all particles. The CCN concentrations were considerably larger but the activation fractions were systematically substantially smaller than observed in regional or remote locations. The effective critical dry particle diameters (dc,eff) were derived utilising the CCN concentrations and particle number size distributions. Their median values at the five supersaturation values considered were 207, 149, 126, 105 and 80 nm, respectively; all of these diameters were positioned within the accumulation mode of the typical particle number size distribution. Their frequency distributions revealed a single peak for which the geometric standard deviation increased monotonically with S. This broadening indicated high time variability in the activating properties of smaller particles. The frequency distributions also showed fine structure, with several compositional elements that seemed to reveal a consistent or monotonical tendency with S. The relationships between the critical S and dc,eff suggest that urban aerosol particles in Budapest with diameters larger than approximately 130 nm showed similar hydroscopicity to corresponding continental aerosol particles, whereas smaller particles in Budapest were less hygroscopic than corresponding continental aerosol particles. Only modest seasonal cycling in CCN concentrations and activation fractions was seen, and only for large S values. This cycling likely reflects changes in the number concentration, chemical composition and mixing state of the particles. The seasonal dependencies of dc,eff were featureless, indicating that the droplet activation properties of the urban particles remained more or less the same throughout the year. This is again different from what is seen in non-urban locations. Hygroscopicity parameters (κ values) were computed without determining the time-dependent chemical composition of the particles. The median values for κ were 0.15, 0.10, 0.07, 0.04 and 0.02, respectively, at the five supersaturation values considered. The averages suggested that the larger particles were considerably more hygroscopic than the smaller particles. We found that the κ values for the urban aerosol were substantially smaller than those previously reported for aerosols in regional or remote locations. All of these characteristics can be linked to the specific source composition of particles in cities. The relatively large variability in the hygroscopicity parameters for a given S emphasises that the individual values represent the CCN population in ambient air while the average hygroscopicity parameter mainly corresponds to particles with sizes close to the effective critical dry particle diameter.

Exploring the potential benefits of high-efficiency dual-fuel combustion on a heavy-duty multi-cylinder engine for SuperTruck I

In support of the Daimler SuperTruck I team’s 55% brake thermal efficiency (BTE) pathway goal, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed an experimental investigation of the potential efficiency and emissions benefits of dual-fuel advanced combustion approaches on a modified heavy-duty 15-L Detroit™ DD15 engine. For this work, a natural gas port fuel injection system with an independent injection control for each cylinder was added to the DD15 engine. For the dual-fuel strategies investigated, 65%–90% of the total fuel energy was supplied through the added port fuel injection natural gas (NG) fueling system. The remaining fuel energy was supplied by one or more direct injections of diesel fuel using the production high pressure diesel fueling system. The production DD15 air handling system and combustion geometry were unmodified for this study. Efficiency and emissions with dual-fuel strategies including both low temperature combustion (LTC) and non-LTC approaches such as dual fuel direct-injection were investigated along with control authority over combustion phasing. Parametric studies of dual-fuel NG/diesel advanced combustion were conducted in order to experimentally investigate the potential of high-efficiency, dual-fuel combustion strategies to improve BTE in a multi-cylinder engine, understand the potential reductions in engine-out emissions, and characterize the range of combustion phasing controllability. Characterization of mode transitions from mixing-controlled diesel pilot ignition to kinetically controlled ignition is presented. Key findings from this study included a reproducible demonstration of BTE approaching 48% at up to a 13-bar brake mean effective pressure with significant reductions in engine-out NOx and soot emissions. Additional results from investigating load transients in dual-fuel mode and initial characterization of particle size distribution during dual-fuel operation are presented.

Retrieval of aerosol properties from Airborne Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP) observations during ACEPOL 2017

Abstract. Multi-angle polarimetric (MAP) imaging of Earth scenes can be used for the retrieval of microphysical and optical parameters of aerosols and clouds. The Airborne Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP) is an aircraft MAP instrument with a hyper-angular imaging capability of 60 along-track viewing angles at 670 nm and 20 along-track viewing angles at other wavelengths – 440, 550, and 870 nm – across the full 114∘ (94∘) along-track (cross-track) field of view. Here we report the retrieval of aerosol properties using the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosols and Surface Properties (GRASP) algorithm applied to AirHARP observations collected during the NASA Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign in October–November 2017. The retrieved aerosol properties include spherical fraction (SF), aerosol column concentration in multiple size distribution modes, and, with sufficient aerosol loading, complex aerosol refractive index. From these primary retrievals, we derive aerosol optical depth (AOD), Angstrom exponent (AE), and single scattering albedo (SSA). AODs retrieved from AirHARP measurements are compared with the High Spectral Resolution LiDAR-2 (HSRL2) AOD measurements at 532 nm and validated with measurements from collocated Aerosol Robotic NETwork (AERONET) stations. A good agreement with HSRL2 (ρ=0.940, |BIAS|=0.062, mean absolute error (MAE) = 0.122) and AERONET AOD (0.010≤MAE≤0.015, 0.002≤|BIAS|≤0.009) measurements is observed for the collocated points. There was a mismatch between the HSRL2- and AirHARP-retrieved AOD for the pixels close to the forest fire smoke source and to the edges of the plume due to spatial mismatch in the sampling. This resulted in a higher BIAS and MAE for the HSRL2 AOD comparison. For the case of AERONET AOD comparison, two different approaches are used in the GRASP retrievals, and the simplified aerosol component-based GRASP/Models kernel which retrieves fewer number of aerosol parameter performed well compared to a more generous GRASP/Five mode approach in the low aerosol loading cases. Forest fire smoke intercepted during ACEPOL provided a situation with homogenous plume and sufficient aerosol loading to retrieve the real part of the refractive index (RRI) of 1.55 and the imaginary part of the refractive index (IRI) of 0.024. The derived SSAs for this case are 0.87, 0.86, 0.84, and 0.81 at wavelengths of 440, 550, 670, and 870 nm, respectively. Finer particles with an average AE of 1.53, a volume median radius of 0.157 µm, and a standard deviation (SD) of 0.55 for fine mode is observed for the same smoke plume. These results serve as a proxy for the scale and detail of aerosol retrievals that are anticipated from future space mission data, as HARP CubeSat (mission begins 2020) and HARP2 (aboard the NASA PACE mission with launch in 2023) are near duplicates of AirHARP and are expected to provide the same level of aerosol characterization.

Physiochemistry characteristics and sources of submicron aerosols at the background area of North China Plain: Implication of air pollution control in heating season

Aerosol physiochemistry and sources in the background regions of North China Plain (NCP) remains poorly characterized. Here we present a comprehensive characterization of aerosol composition and sources at an NCP mountain site during heating periods (November 12 to December 24, 2018) using a Quadrupole Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Q-AMS). The average mass concentration of non-refractory submicron aerosols (NR-PM1) was 22.6 ± 29.9 μg/m3, in which organic aerosol (OA) and nitrate showed comparable contribution of 32.8% and 35.1%, respectively, followed by ammonium (15.3%), sulfate (13.9%) and chloride (2.6%). Secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) was found to dominated in polluted days (70%) which the aerosol level is 15 times higher than that in clean days which dominated by organics (54%). In addition, organics, nitrate and sulfate showed similar unimodal size distributions peaked at 600–800 nm in polluted days, which appear to be internally mixed that originated from regional transportation of aged aerosol. Whereas, the different size distribution mode of organics with SIA that peaked at smaller particle size (200–300 nm) in cleans days suggested contributions from local emissions. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) and ME2 analysis showed oxidized organic aerosols (OOA) dominated the total OA (64%), while the contribution of the hydrocarbons-like OA (HOA) and biomass burning OA (BBOA) was comparable (15–21%). To evaluate the effect of air pollution control on the background aerosols chemistry, interannual variations in aerosol chemical compositions during heating periods in 2014–2018 were deduced combined with the trajectory cluster analysis. The results showed the aerosol source region was mainly from the urban agglomeration of NCP, which showed the largest decrease in aerosol mass concentration during the past five years. In addition, the aerosol compositions became to be SIA dominated gradually under different air mass influence condition, suggesting the air pollution control is more effective for the reduction of primary emissions than the secondary species.