Influence of particle charging on TEOM measurements in the presence of an electrostatic precipitator

摘要

The efficiency of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for reducing woodcombustion emissions was investigated. Real-time measurements were conductedby directly reading the change in frequency of the tapered element in aThermo Scientific 1400a TEOM. These measurements have been shown to beinfluenced by the charge on the aerosols reaching the tapered element suchthat the TEOM overestimates mass concentration. This electrostatic effectwas crosschecked with particle mass concentration and particle numberconcentration measurements where no influence was observed. Placing aradioactive neutraliser prior to the TEOM leads to agreement betweenobserved ESP efficiencies as measured by both the TEOM, mass filters and aCPC.