SBIR Phase I: Design and Development of a Comprehensive Instrument for Measurement of Aerosol Size and Elemental Composition

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在加强和融合多种技术中的最佳技术，以实现高度灵敏和灵活的颗粒物(PM)尺寸和组成测量系统。如果成功，这项研究将建立一种装置的可行性，该装置将在常压下对气溶胶颗粒进行采样，使用光散射来确定颗粒的大小，并使用激光引发的等离子体来测量颗粒。设想的系统将克服与激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)测量气溶胶相关的可变性和不确定性问题。其目标是为烟囱和/或环境监测提供高精度的粗细颗粒物测量，作为连续排放监测仪(CEM)。更长期的商业目标是一种坚固耐用、维护成本低的设备，与目前可用的实时系统相比，成本显著降低。该项目的广泛/商业影响，如果成功，将提供一种工具，解决持续监测城市固体废物和危险废物燃烧设施的金属排放的迫切需要，同时量化各种粗细颗粒物，这对未来的环境保护局法规很重要。这样的工具将使研究能够支持环境保护局更严格的排放控制法规。此外，该工具还可以是用于危险废物处理、发电和其他工业应用的强制执行和过程控制的CEM。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to enhance and fuse the best of several technologies to achieve a highly sensitive and flexible measurement system for both size and composition of particulate matter (PM). If successful, this research will establish the feasibility of a device that will sample aerosol particles at ambient pressure, size particles using light scattering, and measure particles using a laser-initiated plasma. The envisioned system will overcome the problems with variability and uncertainty associated with aerosol measurements by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). The goal is to provide highly accurate measurements of both coarse and fine PM as a continuous emission monitor (CEM) for stack and/or ambient monitoring. The longer term commercial goal is a rugged, low maintenance device with a significant cost reduction over currently available real-time systems. The broader/commercial impact of this project, if successful, is the availability of a tool that will address an immediate need to continuously monitor metal emissions from municipal solid waste and hazardous waste combustion facilities, while quantifying speciated coarse and fine PM, important for future EPA regulations. Such a tool will enable research in support of EPA regulations for more stringent emission control. Furthermore, the tool can also be a CEM used for enforcement as well as process control in hazardous waste treatment, power generation, and other industrial applications.