Mapping the mineralogy of dust in the atmosphere to help promote sustainable aviation

从大气中吸入的矿物粉尘对于飞机燃气涡轮机发动机的健康越来越成为一个问题，这既是因为沙尘暴响应于气候变化的后果而变得更加频繁，也是因为现代发动机在提高发动机效率的驱动下变得更热。吸入的矿物质颗粒会造成许多不同类型的损坏，导致燃料燃烧增加，发动机部件寿命大幅缩短。损害的性质取决于摄入的尘埃颗粒的精确矿物成分、尺寸和形状，特别是在地面和攀登中途（海拔0至~5000 m）之间。因此，重要的是要了解垂直通过对流层低层的大气尘埃的成分的控制，以及如何通过不同的底层源地质区域和大气环流的季节性变化的气载尘埃的成分变化。我们目前对大气尘埃矿物组成的了解，特别是对于大于10微米的颗粒，是有限的，因为直接的空气采样是昂贵和困难的，因为目前的采样策略集中在气候研究。EPSRC-罗尔斯·罗伊斯资助的DTP研究将重点关注空气中矿物粉尘和源地面沉积物之间的成分关系，特别关注与沙尘暴事件相关的垂直和顺风空气动力学颗粒分选。该项目将涉及大量的实地工作，在澳大利亚的几个月里，学生将使用地面和空中采样技术相结合，包括使用无人驾驶飞机和装有特别改装的过滤器采样器的气象气球，描述在地面和空中发现的矿物粉尘类型。将使用拉曼、扫描电镜、X射线衍射和相关地球化学分析技术对收集的样品进行粒度分布和矿物成分分析。该学生将进行风洞实验，以开发和测试采样设备，并研究近地表空气动力学和从地面到空中的多矿物粉尘中进行矿物分选。

Mineral dust ingested from the atmosphere is increasingly a problem for the health of aircraft gas turbine engines, both as dust storms have become more frequent in response to the consequences of climate change, and as modern engines have become hotter in the drive to improve engine efficiency. The ingested mineral particles cause a number of different types of damage, leading to increased fuel burn and a substantial reduction in engine component life. The nature of damage is driven by the precise mineral composition, size and shape of the ingested dust particles, particularly between the ground surface and midway through climb (altitudes of 0 to ~5000 m). Therefore, it is important to understand the controls on the composition of atmospheric dusts vertically through the lower troposphere, and how the composition of airborne dust changes both across regions of differing underlying source geology and through seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation. Our present knowledge about the mineralogical composition of atmosphere dust, particularly for particles >10 micron-micrometer in size, is limited both because direct, airborne sampling is expensive and difficult, and because current sampling strategies are focussed on climate studies. This EPSRC-Rolls-Royce funded DTP study will focus on the compositional relationship between airborne mineral dust and source ground deposits, with particular focus on vertical and downwind aerodynamic particulate sorting associated with dust storm events. This project will involve substantial field work, with several months in Australia where the student will characterize mineral dust types as they are found on the ground and in the air using a combination of ground and airborne sampling techniques, including using drones and weather balloons fitted with specially adapted filter samplers. The collected samples will be analysed for particle size distribution and mineral composition using Raman, SEM, XRD and related geochemical analytical techniques. The student will undertake wind tunnel experiments to develop and test the sampling equipment, and to investigate near surface aerodynamics and mineral sorting from polymineralic dusts during mobilization from the ground to the air.