Engineered Aerosol Production for Laboratory Scale Chemical/Biological Test and Evaluation

摘要

As chemical and biological detection instrumentation has become more sophisticated and higher in performance, there has been a corresponding need for more sophisticated and advanced test and evaluation capabilities. One specific need is for advanced aerosol generation technology that can enable the next generation of realistic, complex, and dynamic simulations of real-world aerosol environments in the testing laboratory. Current devices for aerosol generation, such as glass nebulizers, have remained relatively unchanged for decades. The advent of electronically controlled inkjet technology for printing and imaging has created exciting new possibilities for aerosol generation that is much more controllable, dynamic, and reproducible than any that has existed before. The potential for inkjet-based aerosol generation was first demonstrated by the U.S. Armys Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC). The Inkjet Aerosol Generator, or IJAG, mated the 12-nozzle thermal inkjet head from a desktop inkjet printer with a heated dessication tube and associated hardware. Custom software controls the device operation. Instead of striking paper to form an image, the droplets generated by the nozzles pass into the dessication tube where they are rapidly dried. From the end of the tube emerge dry aerosol particles consisting of the nonvolatile dissolved substances from the liquid solution being printed.