Aerosol sampler
AssigneeUnited Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
InventorDavid R. Booker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aerosol sampler comprises at least one U-tube whose ends are fixed to a support, and through which the aerosol is caused to flow. Means are provided to set the tube vibrating, and to measure its resonant frequency. The bend of the U-tube acts as an impactor so aerosol particles larger than a cut-off size are trapped, causing a change in the measured frequency. A sampler may include a number of such U-tubes in series, with steadily decreasing cut-off sizes, so the aerosol particulate size distribution can be determined.
Claims11
An aerosol sampler comprising support means, at least one U-tube whose ends are fixed to the support means, means for causing an aerosol to flow continuously through the U-tube, means for causing the U-tube to vibrate, means for detecting the resonant frequency of the U-tube, means for measuring the rate of change of the resonant frequency, and means for determining from the rate of change of resonant frequency the rate at which aerosol particulates are deposited within the U-tube.
A method of sampling an aerosol in which the aerosol is caused to flow through one or more U-tubes in series, the U-tubes are caused to vibrate, and for the or each tube the resonant frequency is monitored, the rate of change of the resonant frequency is measured, and hence the rate of deposition of aerosol particulates within the U-tube is determined.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.