Sampling and Analysis of Aircraft Engine Cold Start Particles and Demonstration of an Electrostatic Personal Particle Sampler

Aircraft engines emit an aerosol plume during startup in extremely cold weather that can drift into areas occupied by flightline ground crews. This study tested a personal sampler used to assess exposure to particles in the plume under challenging field conditions. Area and personal samples were tak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIHA journal 2003-11, Vol.64 (6), p.777-784
Main Authors: Armendariz, Alfredo, Leith, David, Boundy, Maryanne, Goodman, Randall, Smith, Les, Carlton, Gary
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Movements
Aircraft
aircraft engine exhaust
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Chemical Precipitation
Cold Temperature
electrostatic precipitator
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Exact sciences and technology
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Humans
Hydrocarbons - analysis
Indoor pollution and occupational exposure
jet fuel
low temperature
Particle Size
Pollution
Static Electricity
Vehicle Emissions - analysis
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Summary:Aircraft engines emit an aerosol plume during startup in extremely cold weather that can drift into areas occupied by flightline ground crews. This study tested a personal sampler used to assess exposure to particles in the plume under challenging field conditions. Area and personal samples were taken at two U.S. Air Force (USAF) flightlines during the winter months. Small tube-and-wire electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) were mounted on a stationary stand positioned behind the engines to sample the exhaust. Other ESPs were worn by ground crews to sample breathing zone concentrations. In addition, an aerodynamic particle sizer 3320 (APS) was used to determine the size distribution of the particles. Samples collected with the ESP were solvent extracted and analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results indicated that the plume consisted of up to 75 mg/m 3 of unburned jet fuel particles. The APS showed that nearly the entire particle mass was respirable, because the plumes had mass median diameters less than 2 µm. These tests demonstrated that the ESP could be used at cold USAF flightlines to perform exposure assessments to the cold start particles.
ISSN:1542-8117
1529-8663
1542-8125
2163-3711
DOI:10.1080/15428110308984872