Laboratory to Market: A Case Study

Abstract

A device to collect submicron particles was designed, developed, and field evaluated at IIT Kanpur. This indigenously developed sampler consists of a single impaction stage and an after filter and operates at a flow rate of 10 LPM. The impactor removes particles greater than 1.0 µm from the airstream and uses a backup filter to collect the remaining finer particles. It has a pressure drop of 18.5 cm of H₂O when used with a 47-mm Teflon filter (2 µm pore size). High-vacuum grade silicone grease is used as an impaction substrate. Both wet and dry aerosol generation systems were used for laboratory evaluation of this sampler using an optical scattering-based real-time instrument. PM₁ (particles having aerodynamic diameter (d _a) less than 1 μ) sampler worked well in the field with no sign of particle overloading, wall losses, deformation of impaction substrate, and particle bounce-off within the sampler body. Field testing consisted of aerosol sampling at various outdoor locations within and outside the IIT Kanpur campus. Upon sampling, all the loaded filter substrates were subjected to gravimetric analysis for mass measurements, followed by chemical analysis to quantitatively determine the elemental and ionic concentrations . These data were used for source apportionment using various available mathematical tools/packages. After several years of successful use of this sampler, it was licensed for a 10-year period to a Delhi-based company (Envirotech Instruments Pvt. Ltd.) as a part of academia to industry technology transfer. This PM₁ sampler has recently been (October 1, 2015) launched in the market as APM 577.