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Cheng, Mengdawn

Publications and source records attributed to Cheng, Mengdawn.

15 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Characterization of the indoor far-field aerosol transmission in a model commercial office building

As businesses gradually reopen and employees return to work, the potential spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants through airborne transmission via the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems of commercial building raises concerns. Since the general practice in commercial buildings is to use low-efficiency air filters and given that indoor air is generally recycled, the degree to which cross-zone aerosol transmission occurs is of interest. To quantify the cross-zone aerosol transmission, experiments were conducted using a synthetic test aerosol in the five zones on the first floor of a model commercial office building at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Because the synthetic aerosol was tagged with fluorescent salt, the aerosol generated from the source zone can be distinguished from the background aerosols due to its unique fluorescent signal. Data from cross-zone campaigns showed that submicron-aerosol transmission was higher than the micron aerosols. In campaigns with doors closed, the submicron aerosol transmission was less than 16% and less than 11% for micron aerosol transmission. Finally, opening the interior doors that connecting different zones can significantly enhance the aerosol transmission for zones at the close proximity to the source, but has less impact on those farther away.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Characterization of the indoor near-field aerosol transmission in a model commercial office building

To evaluate the exposure potential of infectious aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 in an office building setting, synthetic test aerosols were used to experimental study airborne particle transmission in a multizone small office test building at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Nine measurement points in a single zone using active aerosol impactors report that the coefficient of variation of the time-averaged concentration is <10% in two campaigns and < 15% in one campaign, so a nearly well-mixed condition was noted. To understand the effect of HVAC system operation on the dynamic concentration of aerosols in office spaces, an aerosol transport model that includes factors such as outside air (OA) ratio, filtration, return air fraction, transport loss in air ducts, and particle deposition has been developed. The results of model fitting demonstrate strong agreement with experimental data. Overall, our investigation finds the return air fraction effects outweigh other mechanisms for the aerosol recirculation in this study, and the impact of air change rate (ACR) is more important than the small particle deposition for aerosol removal. Because ACR dominates the aerosol transport, the full model can be simplified to just one factor, the ACR, while maintaining an acceptable representation of the experimental data.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Intercomparison of Aerosol Instrumental Responses Using AEROTRAK, SMPS, and APS in a Simulated Building

In this work, three aerosol instruments were intercompared by using data collected from field campaigns in a simulated building environment during the last quarter of 2020 from October to December at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The three aerosol instruments—AeroTrak Model 9110, Scanning Mobility Particle Spectrometer (SMPS) 3080L + 3025A, and Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) 3320—were manufactured by TSI Inc. to perform in situ measurements of particle number concentration in the air. These instruments were co-located in one room in which an aerosol generator was used to produce a defined aerosol population for the instruments to sample and detect in each campaign. The SMPS measured aerosol particles with diameters from 0.01 to 0.7 µm, APS measured aerosol particles with diameters from 0.5 to 20 µm, and AeroTrak measured aerosol particles with diameters from 0.1 to 10 µm. The results suggest that although AeroTrak is fast and easy to use, it does not provide measurements comparable with those obtained by SMPS and APS. The differences in particle counts were orders of magnitude in size (i.e., the AeroTrak data were unreasonably small in the tested scenarios). The results clearly indicate that AeroTrak should not be used in ambient applications in which the level of particle concentration is expected to be high. This would cause difficulty to a campaign in which the dilution factor is unknow a priori. The high particle concentration could also lead to an erroneous aerosol size distribution (e.g., a bimodal size distribution was measured as opposed to a single-mode one). The number concentration limit that AeroTrak is expected to run reliably (i.e., with a counting coincidence error less than ±10%) is approximately three to four per cubic centimeter. This suggests that the instrument is best used in a clean room environment, not in an ambient or indoor application, such as the Flexible Research Platform campaigns.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

On the use of high-gradient magnetic force field in capturing airborne particles

Airborne particles in the environment are generally smaller than a couple of microns. Use of magnetic force to collect aerosol particles thus has not been popular as the other means. There are billions of airborne particles emitted by a host of man-made sources with the particle size smaller than 1 µm and possess some magnetic susceptibility. We are thus interested in the use of high-gradient magnetic collection to extract the magnetic fraction in an aerosol population. Here in this study, we reported that the magnetic force is the dominant force in collection of ferromagnetic particles of mobility equivalent size larger than or equal to 50 nm in a high-gradient permanent-magnetic aerosol collector, while the diffusiophoretic force is responsible for particles smaller than 10 nm. Both forces compete for particles in between these two sizes in the magnetic aerosol collector designed for this study. To enable a wide-range effective collection of aerosol particles across entire size spectrum from a few nanometers to tens of a micron, the ORNL-designed high-gradient magnetic collector would require the use of an engineered matrix. Thus, the matrix design for a specific application becomes application specific. Irrespective of the collection efficiency, the use of permanent magnets to collect magnetic particles is feasible and also highly selective because it tunes into the magnetic susceptibility of the particles as well as the size. Lastly, the use of permanent magnets enables the collector to be operated at a minimal power requirement, which is a critical factor in long-term field operation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-gradient permanent magnet apparatus and its use in particle collection

A high-gradient permanent magnet apparatus for capturing paramagnetic particles, the apparatus comprising: (i) at least two permanent magnets positioned with like poles facing each other; (ii) a ferromagnetic spacer separating the like poles; and (iii) a magnetizable porous filling material in close proximity to the at least two permanent magnets. Also described is a method for capturing paramagnetic particles in which a gas or liquid sample containing the paramagnetic particles is contacted with the high-gradient permanent magnet apparatus described above; wherein, during the contacting step, the gas or liquid sample contacts the magnetizable porous filling material of the high-gradient permanent magnet apparatus, and at least a portion of the paramagnetic particles in the gas or liquid sample is captured on the magnetizable porous filling material.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of a Long-Life-Cycle, Highly Water-Resistant Solar Reflective Retrofit Roof Coating

Highly water-resistant and solar-reflective coatings for low-slope roofs are potentially among the most economical retrofit approaches to thermal management of the building envelope. Therefore, they represent a key building technology research program within the Department of Energy. Research efforts in industry and the Department of Energy are currently under way to increase long-term solar reflectance on a number of fronts. These include new polymer coatings technologies to provide longer-lasting solar reflectivity and improved test methodologies to predict long-term soiling and microbial performance. The focus on long-term improvements in soiling and microbial resistance for maximum reflectance does not address the single most important factor impacting the long-term sustainability of low-slope roof coatings: excellent water resistance. The hydrophobic character of asphaltic roof products makes them uniquely suitable for water resistance, but their low albedo and poor exterior durability are disadvantages. A reflective coating that maintains very high water resistance with increased long-term resistance to soiling and microbial activity would provide additional energy savings and extend roof service life.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Filtration of bioaerosols using a granular metallic filter with micrometer-sized collectors

Several experimental studies with granular bed filters composed of micrometer-sized spherical or sintered metallic granules have demonstrated their use in aerosol filtration. However, the effectiveness of these metallic membrane filters against bioaerosols has not been established. In this work, the filtration efficiency and filter quality of these filters against airborne B. subtilis endospore and MS2 virus were determined as a function of face velocity and loading time. In experiments, a physical removal efficiency greater than 99.9% and a viable removal efficiency of greater than 5-log were observed for both bacterial spore and viral aerosols. A lower face velocity produced both higher collection efficiency and filter quality for virus but was not statistically significant for spore filtration. Although the filter had high filtration efficiency of the test bioaerosols, the filter's high pressure drop resulted in a low filter quality (0.25-0.75 kPa- 1). Overall, filters with micrometer-sized collectors capture bioaerosols effectively but their applications in aerosol filtration may be limited by their high pressure drop.

aerosol↗
DOE OSTI2014

On the validity of the Poisson assumption in sampling nanometer-sized aerosols

A Poisson process is traditionally believed to apply to the sampling of aerosols. For a constant aerosol concentration, it is assumed that a Poisson process describes the fluctuation in the measured concentration because aerosols are stochastically distributed in space. Recent studies, however, have shown that sampling of micrometer-sized aerosols has non-Poissonian behavior with positive correlations. The validity of the Poisson assumption for nanometer-sized aerosols has not been examined and thus was tested in this study. Its validity was tested for four particle sizes - 10 nm, 25 nm, 50 nm and 100 nm - by sampling from indoor air with a DMA- CPC setup to obtain a time series of particle counts. Five metrics were calculated from the data: pair-correlation function (PCF), time-averaged PCF, coefficient of variation, probability of measuring a concentration at least 25% greater than average, and posterior distributions from Bayesian inference. To identify departures from Poissonian behavior, these metrics were also calculated for 1,000 computer-generated Poisson time series with the same mean as the experimental data. For nearly all comparisons, the experimental data fell within the range of 80% of the Poisson-simulation values. Essentially, the metrics for the experimental data were indistinguishable from a simulated Poisson process. The greater influence of Brownian motion for nanometer-sized aerosols may explain the Poissonian behavior observed for smaller aerosols. Although the Poisson assumption was found to be valid in this study, it must be carefully applied as the results here do not definitively prove applicability in all sampling situations.

concentration measurement↗
DOE OSTI2013

Classification of Volatile Engine Particles

Volatile particles cannot be detected at the engine exhaust by an aerosol detector. They are formed when the exhaust is mixed with ambient air downstream. Lack of a precise definition of volatile engine particles has been an impediment to engine manufacturers and regulatory agencies involved in the development of an effective control strategy. It is beyond doubt that volatile particles from combustion sources contribute to the atmospheric particulate burden, and the effect of that contribution is a critical issue in the ongoing research in the areas of air quality and climate change. A new instrument, called volatile particle separator (VPS), has been developed. It utilizes a proprietary microporous metallic membrane to separate particles from vapors. VPS data were used in the development of a two-parameter function to quantitatively classify, for the first time, the volatilization behavior of engine particles. The value of parameter A describes the volatilization potential of an aerosol. A nonvolatile particle has a larger A-value than a volatile one. The value of parameter k, an effective evaporation energy barrier, is found to be much smaller for small engine particles than that for large engine particles. The VPS instrument provides a means beyond just being a volatile particle remover; it enables a numerical definition to characterize volatile engine particles.

Engine emission↗
DOE OSTI2013

Vapor-Particle Separation Using Microporous Metallic Membrane in Crossflow Filtration

Simultaneous separation of vapor and particles in industrial processes could be a key step toward manufacturing of high-quality goods. The separation is critical for successful measurement of volatile or semi-volatile aerosol particles, which no reliable technique exists. We have developed a technique for separation of vapor and particles simultaneously using a specialty microporous metallic membrane. The separator allows the thermally denuded particles traverse straight through the membrane tube, while the vapor molecules permeate through the membrane, separate from the particles and are removed subsequently. The separation technique virtually eliminates the possibility of contamination by vapor re- condensation. We tested the prototype of the vapor-particle separator (VPS) using aerosols prepared from sodium chloride to represent non-volatile aerosols. Chemical like dioctyl phthalate was chosen to represent volatile particles. The test aerosol particles were generated by an atomizer followed by a tandem differential mobility analyser to produce a stream of monodisperse particles in the size range of 10 to 100 nm. In real world particles, we tested the VPS using diesel engine particles that is a mixture of complex chemical composition. Number concentration of the nonvolatile particles reduced as the temperature increased, but the mode diameter of the aerosol population remained unchanged. Number concentration of the volatile particles was also reduced as the temperature increased, but their mode diameters became smaller as particles shrunk in diameter. Differences in the thermal behaviour of the particles were attributed to its transition energy barrier and evaporation rate. Mass balance analysis suggests the separation of vapor and test particles was reasonably complete. Thus, we conclude the VPS could provide an effective means for quantitative characterization of aerosol volatility and separation of vapors from particles.

aerosol↗