Control of Workplace Diesel Exhaust Particulate

摘要

Diesel engines are the most efficient internal combustion engines. The exhaust from these engines, however, has been linked to occupational cancers in workers who spend significant amounts of time near diesel vehicles or diesel machinery. Methods developed so far to reduce exposures to the particulate matter (PM) found in diesel exhaust emissions have focused on the use of mechanical filters. Some of these systems have shown good performance in occupational applications, but even the most advanced mechanical filters have limitations. Many can create a backpressure which will cause increased fuel consumption. In addition, mechanical filters need to be regenerated periodically to reduce back pressure and prevent plugging, which can be a complex process. The primary objective of this study was to lower the incidence of occupational lung cancers through the development of a technique to reduce diesel particulate matter emissions into the workplace. This study focused on a novel electrostatic precipitation (ESP) technique to capture diesel particulate matter. Large-scale electrostatic precipitators have been widely used in heavy industry and utilities for more than a century, but they have not been successfully miniaturized for particulate removal from mobile sources or diesel powered machinery. Fundamental studies were performed in the laboratory to understand the important electrostatic properties of small-scale ESPs.