Direct reading particle counters: calibration verification and multiple instrument agreement via bump testing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hollenbeck S ; Jankovic, John T. ; Ogle BR ; Zontek TL
• Description:
  The calibration records of two direct reading instruments designated as condensation particle counters were examined to determine the number of times they were found to be out of tolerance at annual manufacturer's recalibration. Both instruments were found to be out of tolerance more times than within tolerance. And, it was concluded that annual calibration alone was insufficient to provide operational confidence in an instrument's response. Therefore, a method based on subsequent agreement with data gathered from a newly calibrated instrument was developed to confirm operational readiness between annual calibrations, hereafter referred to as bump testing. The method consists of measuring source particles produced by a gas grille spark igniter in a gallon-size jar. Sampling from this chamber with a newly calibrated instrument to determine the calibrated response over the particle concentration range of interest serves as a reference. Agreement between this reference response and subsequent responses at later dates implies that the instrument is performing as it was at the time of calibration. Side-by-side sampling allows the level of agreement between two or more instruments to be determined. This is useful when simultaneously collected data are compared for differences, i.e., background with process aerosol concentrations. A reference set of data was obtained using the spark igniter. The generation system was found to be reproducible and suitable to form the basis of calibration verification. The bump test is simple enough to be performed periodically throughout the calibration year or prior to field monitoring. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Air-quality-measurement Air-sampling-equipment Analytical-instruments Author Keywords: Air Monitoring Calibration Condensation Particle Counter Equipment-reliability Machine-operation Measurement-equipment Nanoscale Material Nanotechnology Particle-counters Particulate-sampling-methods Performance-capability Sampling-equipment Testing-equipment

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Tennessee ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  12
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046370
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2015 Jul; 12(7):D116-D122
• Contact Point Address:
  Tracy L. Zontek, Associate Professor, Western Carolina University, 4121 Little Savannah Road, Cullowhee, NC 28723
• Email:
  zontek@email.wcu.edu
• Editor(s):
  Harper M
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7ea06e7b8342f9353f213d5254479734daf43a8f6b68d41144a27da3fc65eb9a2ab4a2969881a1caabb0c03652579a0bd5f6a1ae686826e76b576bf06c089a34
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201449/cdc_201449_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 716.30 KB ]