SBIR Phase I: A MEMS-based device for counting airborne nano particles

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the development of a new airborne particle counter to allow rapid observations of ambient nanoparticle size and concentration. The device will be highly sensitive, simple to use, inexpensive, and easily deployed for remote, autonomous operation. The key component of the instrument is a new Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) sensor that will eliminate the need for expensive, bulky, condensational-growth-based techniques that require consumable working fluids and complex optical detectors. The new technology will largely eliminate the cost, size, weight, and operator-expertise constraints of currently available technologies. Phase I of this project will include development of mechanical designs and computational fluid dynamics models of the various key systems and construction and laboratory testing of prototypes of the aerosol sizer and MEMS sensor. Applications of the new technology include aerosol health effects studies, routine continuous monitoring of ambient ultrafine particle size distributions, studies of rapid aerosol evolution in power-plant and other exhaust plumes, creation of data sets for climate change models, drug development by pharmaceutical firms, and indoor air quality monitoring for silicon wafer processing, green building, and household applications. Broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes satisfying the need for increased spatial and temporal coverage of aerosol data while creating a measurement technique accessible to a more general group of users through its reduced cost and ease of use. Initial customers include air quality researchers at universities and within federal and state governments. As the technique is validated through peer-reviewed publications, the customer base will expand to air quality monitoring network administrators and wafer processing firms. As the device operation is proven in routine monitoring applications, its application will be extended to green-building and household indoor air-monitoring applications. Broader application of the device will serve as an educational tool for students and investigators leading to more widespread understanding of the processes that influence particle size and concentration in ambient, laboratory and industrial settings. Increased understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes will serve as important information for investigators in the areas of global climate change and aerosol health impacts. Industrial applications include remote operation for monitoring of clean room contaminants and evaluation of the dose-delivery of aerosolized pharmaceutical drugs.