Browsing by Subject "Particle formation"

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    The fate of airborne nanoparticles released from a leak in a nanoparticle production process into a simulated workplace environment.
    (2010-08) Stanley, Nicholas James
    A leak in nanoparticle production equipment can cause large quantities of nanoparticles to be emitted into a workplace environment. Toxicity studies have shown hazards of inhaling nanoparticles; however these studies may not be using the proper particles. Physical and chemical changes may occur as these nanoparticles travel from the production site through ambient air, causing worker exposure. With the correct size and concentration known at distances from the leak, realistic worker exposure can be determined and appropriate worker protection and occupational monitoring schemes can be developed. Different nanoparticle materials were produced with a diffusion burner and injected through an experimentally simulated leak into a wind tunnel (simulated workplace environment). The wind tunnel background face velocity was 0.25 m/s. Soot distributions (dg = 59 and dg = 113 nm) and TiO2 (dg = 21 nm) were used as the test aerosols. A smaller distribution of particles (dg < 8 nm) was also noticed at the injection site for soot and TiO2. Lung deposited surface area concentration was measured using a NSAM and the number size distribution was measured with a SMPS at distances of 0.9 m, 1.8 m, and 3.4 m (times of 3.6 s, 7.2 s, and 13.6 s, respectively) from the injection point. TEM images were gathered at the injection point and 3.4 m downstream. The soot (dg = 113 nm) and TiO2 (dg = 21 nm) distributions produced loose, chain-type agglomerates at the injection point with primary particle sizes of dpp = 30 nm and dpp = 4.5 nm, respectively. These distributions experienced an increase in geometric mean particle size between the injection point and 0.9 m downstream. Surface area per particle (NSAM/SMPS ratio) also increased between the injection point and 0.9 m downstream. There was no additional particle change after 0.9 m. Primary particle size also increased after the injection point within the wind tunnel. Therefore the agglomerate size change may have been caused by the primary particle size change, as coagulation is an unlikely cause of particle growth in this situation. The soot (dg = 59 nm) aerosol was not relevant for this analysis. The soot (dg = 59 nm) distribution was created using a Rich fuel/air mixture (φ = 2.05), which produced unburned fuel in the exhaust. When the simulated leak size was changed from 27 mm to 10 mm, the Richardson number of the leak changed from 197 to 0.42, and a bi-modal distribution formed at 0.9 m downstream (1st mode: dg = 16 nm, 2nd mode: dg = 70 nm). The first mode particle formation was likely caused by turbulent mixing of the leaked exhaust gases with background air, causing local supersaturation and new particle formation.
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    Numerical modeling of plasmas in which nanoparticles nucleate and grow
    (2012-10) Agarwal, Pulkit
    Dusty plasmas refer to a broad category of plasmas. Plasmas such as argon-silane plasmas in which particles nucleate and grow are widely used in semiconductor processing and nanoparticle manufacturing. In such dusty plasmas, the plasma and the dust particles are strongly coupled to each other. This means that the presence of dust particles significantly affects the plasma properties and vice versa. Therefore such plasmas are highly complex and they involve several interesting phenomena like nucleation, growth, coagulation, charging and transport. Dusty plasma afterglow is equally complex and important. Especially, residual charge on dust particles carries special significance in several industrial and laboratory situations and it has not been well understood. A 1D numerical model was developed of a low-pressure capacitively-coupled plasma in which nanoparticles nucleate and grow. Polydispersity of particle size distributions can be important in such plasmas. Sectional method, which is well known in aerosol literature, was used to model the evolving particle size and charge distribution. The numerical model is transient and one-dimensional and self consistently accounts for nucleation, growth, coagulation, charging and transport of dust particles and their effect on plasma properties. Nucleation and surface growth rates were treated as input parameters. Results were presented in terms of particle size and charge distribution with an emphasis on importance of polydispersity in particle growth and dynamics. Results of numerical model were compared with experimental measurements of light scattering and light emission from plasma. Reasonable qualitative agreement was found with some discrepancies. Pulsed dusty plasma can be important for controlling particle production and/or unwanted particle deposition. In this case, it is important to understand the behavior of the particle cloud during the afterglow following plasma turn-off. Numerical model was modified to self consistently simulate the dynamics and charging of particles during afterglow. It was found that dusty plasma afterglow is dominated by different time scales for electron and ion dynamics. Particle size and charge distribution changes significantly during the afterglow. Finally, a simplified chemistry model was included in dusty plasma numerical model to simulate the dynamics of argon-silane dusty plasma. The chemistry model treats silane dissociation and reactions of silicon hydrides containing up to two silicon atoms. The nucleation rate is equated to rate of formation of anions containing two Si atoms, and a heterogeneous reaction model is used to model particle surface growth. Evolution of particle size and concentration is explained and the importance of variable surface growth rate and nucleation rate is discussed.