Evaluation of the Alphasense Optical Particle Counter (OPC-N2) and the Grimm Portable Aerosol Spectrometer (PAS-1.108)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hallett L ; Koehler K ; Peters TM ; Sousan S
• Description:
  We compared the performance of a low-cost (approximately $500), compact optical particle counter (OPC, OPC-N2, Alphasense) to another OPC (PAS-1.108, Grimm Technologies) and reference instruments. We measured the detection efficiency of the OPCs by size from 0.5 to 5 µm for monodispersed, polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres. We then compared number and mass concentrations measured with the OPCs to those measured with reference instruments for three aerosols: salt, welding fume and Arizona road dust. The OPC-N2 detection efficiency for monodispersed was similar to the PAS-1.108 for particles larger than 0.8 µm (minimum of 79% at 1 µm and maximum of 101% at 3 µm). For 0.5-µm particles, the detection efficiency of OPCN2 was underestimated at 78%, whereas PAS-1.108 overestimated concentrations by 183%. The mass concentrations from the OPCs were linear (r = 0.97) with those from the reference instruments for all aerosols, although the slope and intercept were different. The mass concentrations were overestimated for dust (OPC-N2, slope = 1.6; PAS-1.108, slope = 2.7) and underestimated for welding fume (OPC-N2, slope = 0.05; PAS-1.108, slope = 0.4). The coefficient of variation (CV, precision) for OPC-N2 for all experiments was between 4.2% and 16%. These findings suggest that, given site-specific calibrations, the OPC-N2 can provide number and mass concentrations similar to the PAS-1.108 for particles larger than 1 um. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Chlorine Dust Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Welding
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Particles Air Pollution Air Quality Monitoring Analytical Instruments Chlorides Costs Detectors Dusts Equipment Reliability Equipment Testing Fumes Mass Spectrometry Measurement Equipment Particle Counters Particle Size Performance Capability Performance Tests Sodium Compounds Spectroscopes Welding Fumes

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• ISSN:
  0278-6826
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  50
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050613
• Citation:
  Aerosol Sci Technol 2016 Dec; 50(12):1352-1365
• Contact Point Address:
  Thomas M. Peters, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, 105 River Street, S331 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
• Email:
  Thomas-m-peters@uiowa.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Sodium chloride (CAS RN 7647-14-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20140901
• Source Full Name:
  Aerosol Science and Technology
• End Date:
  20180831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9c242b7f8cb318e169867a20c85078d14207b38395cb29138f044447e5efd1cdc4d650d9ecb7b12769d3bbd8d04cff27752e0f3090304417671e1b99cd80e897
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210887/cdc_210887_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.07 MB ]