Characterization of Air Particles Giving False Responses with Biological Detectors.

摘要

A comprehensive selection of air background particles representing 13 categories and a total of 552 different substances were tested for 'alarm-like' responses in the chemiluminescence biological detector. Biological particles were most active in these tests and were also implicated as the cause of false alarm responses by the detector in open air tests upon examination of samples collected at the time of the alarms. Methods for eliminating dector responses to biological background were studied with major attention being given to separating biological aerosol from background particles by selective deagglomeration of the aerosol particles and separation of the 'deagglomerates' from intack background particles. An experimental deagglomerator effectively reduced the size of aerosol particles with minimal breakup of pollen grains or spores. Cyclone separators were optimized for maximal retention of intact biological background and maximal passage of deagglomerated aerosol particles to provide a potentially practicable solution to the ambient background problem.