Patent Application
20110072772
This invention pertains to concentration of aerosol particles or airborne agents in a virtual impactor, and more particularly to scaleable means for fractionating a focused particle beam into particle-depleted sheath or “bulk” flow and a particle-enriched core or “minor” flow by diverting the bulk flow in an improved “skimmer”, and to combinations with aerodynamic lenses finding use in preparation and testing of aerosol samples.
Atmospheric aerosols from natural, anthropogenic, and industrial sources have long been recognized as a potential threat to human health. This threat is now compounded by the need to detect and avert acts of terrorism where an infectious or toxic material is deployed in the form of an aerosol. Particles that present the greatest hazard in terms of inhalation and nasal entrapment or lung deposition are respirable particles in the range of 0.02-25 um diameter.
One major challenge that must be addressed by all aerosol samplers is that many aerosols occur at extremely low concentrations, or may be only a small fraction of the urban background aerosol distribution. The aerosol must thus generally be concentrated before sampling. Convergent nozzles and aerodynamic lenses are effective in focusing an aerosol into a beam of particles, a particle-rich core surrounded by a sheath of particle-depleted gas. A discussion of focusing aerosols is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,677 to Wexler and in Peng et al. (1995) Aerosol Sci Technol 22:293-313. But used in isolation such focusing devices are not effective in fractionating the particle-rich core from the particle-depleted sheath flow.
For concentration of particles, a device which may be used in conjunction with nozzles or aerodynamic lenses is a “virtual impactor,” which separates particles from carrier gas on the basis of momentum and aerodynamic size [See Loo et al. Dichotomous virtual impactors for large scale monitoring of airborne particulate matter, In (BYH Liu, ed) Fine Particles: Aerosol generation, measurement, sampling and analysis (1976) pp 312-349]. A virtual impactor does not trap particles by physical impaction, as in plate impactors or impingers, but instead fractionates a particle beam according to a “cut size” characteristic of the virtual impactor, fractionating the gas stream into flows that are termed by convention, the “bulk flow”, which is the particle-depleted sheath flow, and the “minor flow”, which is the particle-rich core flow of the focused gas stream. Both bulk and minor flows generally flow in the direction of a suction pressure applied to the concentrator. Particles in the minor flow are concentrated in the virtual impactor and remain suspended in a reduced volume of flowing gas. The bulk flow is routed to an exhaust manifold. This function has the advantage that virtual impactors can be operated continuously.
In a virtual impactor, the impaction plate or impinger is replaced by a column of lower velocity gas occupying what is termed a “virtual impactor void”. The particle-rich core of the particle beam collides with this column of lower velocity gas. The bulk or sheath flow is diverted around it. Historically, this is accomplished by inserting a tubular, wedge-shaped, or conical “collection nose” (also termed a “collection probe”) into the flow of the gas stream. The collection nose is commonly acutely tapered at the tip to split off and deflect the sheath flow, and is formed with a tubular channel down its center axis. The mouth of that channel is the virtual impactor void. Particles continue through the virtual impactor void and are carried in the lower velocity gas stream (the “minor flow”) down the channel in the nose (conventionally termed the “minor flow channel” but termed here the “collector”). The coarse particles, with greater inertia, pass into the collector, and in contrast, the sheath flow and some finer particles follow the streamlines of the bulk air flow and are diverted by the outer surface of the nose. In this way, the gas flow is fractionated; the bulk of the gas is diverted away from the nose, and a lesser, particle-rich fraction is concentrated in the collector flow. Because the nose of these virtual impactors generally comes to a sharp tip, it is typically manufactured by machining, or is sacrificially truncated.
Representative virtual impactors are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,901,798, 4,301,002, 4,670,135, 4,767,524, 5,425,802, 5,533,406, 5,788,741, 6,062,392, 6,386,015, and 6402817. Because typical virtual impactors do not actually collect particles themselves, but merely redirect them into two different fluid streams according to their mass, they are essentially free of the problems of particle bounce and re-entrainment associated with actual impactor devices. Related designs are described in Chen, BT and HC Yeh (1985) A Novel Virtual Impactor: Calibration and Use, J Aerosol Sci 16: 343-354; in Novick VS and J L Alvarez (1987) Design of a multi-stage virtual impactor, Aerosol Sci Tech 6:63-70; in Loo B W and C P Cork (1988) Development of high efficiency virtual impactors, Aeros Sci Techn 9:167-176; in Marple Va. et al (1980) Virtual Impactors: a theoretical study, Environ Sci Tech 14:976; and in Goo, J (2002) Numerical simulation of aerosol concentration at atmospheric pressure by a cascade of aerodynamic slit lenses, J Aerosol Sci 33:1493-1507. As is the case with solid body impactors, parameters used to characterize the performance of virtual impactors include collection efficiency, separation efficiency, wall loss, volume per unit time, flow split, or concentration ratio. A preferred virtual impactor should have a steep cutoff curve and little wall loss, and is preferentially operated at a larger mass transfer rate and flow split.
Typically a virtual impactor is described as having a specific “cut size”. This term refers to the particle size above which a given particle has sufficient momentum to cross deflected streamlines and flow into the collector. In contrast, particles smaller than the cut size and carrier gas molecules follow their respective streamlines. By convention, the cut size is determined by measuring the particle size at which 50 percent of the particles of that particular size flow into a collection tube and 50 percent of the particles of that size follow the deflected streamlines. The “efficiency” of a virtual impactor for a particular particle size is the percentage or ratio of correctly fractionated particles over the total number of particles in the sampled gas stream. Efficiency values for different particle sizes are not only indicative of the cut size value, but can also indicate the overall effectiveness of the virtual impactor for other particle sizes. The “particle loss” for a virtual impactor represents the percentage of particles that enter but do not exit the device, and instead adhere to some internal structure, such as the acceleration nozzle, the collection probe inlet, or walls of the collector.
Peterson, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,798, claims improvements in reduction in wall loss by stacking two plates, the first plate and the second plate having concentrically located orifices, with a tubular collection nose inserted into the gas flow in the plane of the second orifice so that an annular passage for diversion of the bulk flow (B) is formed around the tubular nose. Minor flow (M) exits at the long center axis. The virtual impactor in this early design is not preceded by a focusing nozzle. This early design of a virtual impactor, represented here in
Loo, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,002 describes a focusing nozzle and collection probe of a virtual impactor, shown here in
Marple, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,135 (
Burton (
Kenning in U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,065 describes in (
A related device is shown in
Similarly, Birmingham, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,392, describes separation plates containing linear arrays of acceleration nozzles and “fin-shaped” virtual impactor noses. Importantly, the sharply convex shape of the collection nose is taught to reduce wall losses in this design. Birmingham teaches, “The virtual impactor is generally haystack-shaped and includes a convex leading surface. The convex surface faces the outlet end of the nozzle. The convex surface includes a virtual impactor void therethrough. The virtual impactor void defines a terminal end of a minor flow channel that extends through the separation plate to the second surface.” (Col 3, lines 58-63). And further that a “dead fluid” zone or a zone of stagnant air is created adjacent to the convex surfaces surrounding the virtual impactor void, the convex surfaces permitting improved collection of the minor flow (Col 6, lines 18-25). This description is consistent with wall separation, which is accompanied by instability in the flow regime around the nose, and is not expected to result in higher efficiencies at higher flow rates and flow splits.
Bulk flow is diverted to ducts interposed between the minor flow channels and from there out through orifices in the coverplates of the device. These separation plates, however, cannot be stacked because of mechanical interferences, and because pipeflow resistances rapidly lead to a decrease in pressure drop in the bulk flow exhaust from one layer to the next. According to Birmingham, “By improving the particle separation efficiency of each of virtual impactors 16, the present invention allows for employing only one layer or row of virtual impactors 16 for completing particle separation, which eliminates the chances of particles getting lost onto surfaces of additional layers or rows of virtual impactors” (Col 6, lines 38-42). Construction of these devices also relies on difficult and expensive micromachining techniques.
In contrast to the single-layered devices of Birmingham and Kenning, Ariessohn's “Aerodynamic Lens Particle Separator” (US20080022853), describes an expandable two-dimensional array of micro-aerodynamic lenses for focusing large volumes of moving air into concentrated particle beams.
Arrays of the devices of
Related art is described by Goo (Goo J. 2002. Numerical simulation of aerosol concentration at atmospheric pressure by a cascade of aerodynamic slit lenses. J Aerosol Sci 33:1493-1507).
Thus, there is a need in the art, for a virtual impactor module that overcomes the above disadvantages, is readily manufactured without recourse to micromachining, and can be scaled or assembled in arrays to accommodate larger flow throughputs at high ratios of bulk flow to minor flow.
The present invention provides a compact skimmer for efficiently separating an aerosol-rich minor flow from a focused gas stream. The skimmer is generally paired with an aerodynamic lens, convergent nozzle, or other upstream intake member. For higher throughput, paired nozzle and skimmer or aerodynamic lens (ADL) and skimmer units (nozzle:skimmer and ADL:skimmer pairs) are assembled into arrays containing a plurality of such unit pairs. The concentrator arrays may be linear arrays or two-dimensional arrays for processing large volumes of gas. Palisaded arrays may be wrapped around a cylindrical tubular housing or disposed on some other hollow surface. Advantageously, when packed in palisaded arrays, the chimney structures required for operation of the skimmers may be compactly folded between adjoining intake members and ducted to a common exhaust manifold. Adaptor manifolds for pooling the minor flows of very large collector arrays are also disclosed. Miniaturized arrays of this kind could be manufactured by micromachining, but may advantageously also be manufactured using injection molding.
In a first embodiment, the body of the inventive skimmer is generally bounded by a top surface and a bottom surface separated by a distance “H” and has an inlet end and an outlet end. Between the enclosing upper and lower bounding surfaces, the body of the skimmer includes two frontend body members of height “H” separated by a inlet channel having an “inlet aperture” for receiving a gas stream. The upstream aspects of the frontend skimmer body members form an inlet aperture therebetween and the centerfacing walls of the frontend body members form a channel termed the “inlet raceway” for receiving the gas stream into the skimmer body and accelerating the particle beam.
In a preferred embodiment, the inlet end of the skimmer is fluidly connected to an outlet end of an aerodynamic lens or lenses, convergent nozzle, other intake member, or a combination thereof. The aerodynamic lenses may be an annular type or a slit type. The inlet raceway defines the long axis of flow of the gas stream, and is generally coaxial (or coplanar) with the flow of the gas stream in a combination device having an upstream aerodynamic lens, nozzle, or other intake member. When the aerodynamic lenses are annular, a particle beam results; when the aerodynamic lenses are slit type, a particle ribbon results. According to the configuration of the aerodynamic lens, the configuration of the skimmer may be annular or slit type.
The body of a slit-type skimmer also includes two downstream body members of height “H” separated by a collector channel for conveying a minor flow stream. The collector channel is formed by symmetrically opposed inner walls of the downstream skimmer body members and is coaxial (or co-planar) with the long axis of flow of the gas stream. The inlet of the collector channel as defined by the proximate upstream aspects of the two outlet body members is the “virtual impactor void”. In one embodiment, the collector channel height H may be tapered, with a maximum at the inlet and a minimum at the collector outlet, thereby forming a funnel for shaping a ribbon of flow into a more symmetric stream.
Within the body of skimmers of this type are two lateral flow channels in fluidic communication with the gas stream. The union of the lateral flow channels, the inlet raceway, and the collector channel forms a “crossed-tee” junction, and the virtual impactor void is the mouth of the collector channel. The lateral flow channels bear sharply away from the long axis of flow and separate the frontend body members and the backend body members. The lateral flow channels are generally symmetrical and are formed between the downstream or “posterior” walls of the frontend body members and the upstream or “anterior” walls of the backend body members. Each of the lateral flow channels is characterized in that the upstream walls of the downstream body members (ie. facing the lateral flow channels) are generally concavedly curved or contoured, that is, the lateral arms form a path for the bulk flow streamlines curve in an arc that is generally orthogonally or obtusely bending away from long axis of flow through the crossed tee junction, albeit ‘curvedly bending away’ and not perpendicular or straight walled. It can be said that the virtual impactor void is centered on a “concavedly curved” solid impactor surface. This is done to coherently port the bulk flow away from the minor flow by arcuately bending it more than 90 degrees, even more preferably more than 110 degrees, even more preferably more than 150 degrees, and most preferably about 180 degrees from the long axis direction of flow. It can be said that the throat of the device is configured to bend the bulk flow along an arcuate path away from the direction of the long axis of flow, the arcuate path bending more than 90°, in another embodiment more than 110°, and in another embodiment about 180° from the long axis of flow. In one embodiment, effectively, the bulk flow is directed into a “U-turn”. This leads to a more compact collector device and improves the collection efficiency by eliminating or reducing flow instability, wall separation, and stagnation zones around the virtual impactor void and the throats of the lateral flow channels.
Configured this way, the lateral flow channels open into “chimney spaces” disposed contralaterally on either side of the inlet body members, thereby forming an enlarged exhaust duct for the bulk flow. The chimney spaces or “shafts” are generally perpendicular to the body of the skimmer but not requiredly so. When directed orthogonally and/or perpendicularly to the body of the skimmer, the chimney shafts form an outlet port extending through at least one enclosing surface of the skimmer body, the top, the bottom, a side plate, the other side plate, or a combination of top and bottom or side and side.
The skimmer bodies of the first embodiment can therefore be advantageously stacked or arrayed. In this aspect of the present invention, two dimensional arrays of nozzles (or aerodynamic lenses) and skimmers are provided. Plural nozzle:skimmer or ADL:skimmer combinations (stacked pairs) are arrayed in palisading rows and rows are stacked upon rows. Chimneys extend through the stack between the nozzle elements and are joined to convey the bulk flow to a common exhaust manifold. Preferably, all the collector channels are joined in a common adaptor manifold, or funnel-like element, and the enriched particle fraction from each of the skimmers is pooled for collection or further processing.
In a preferred embodiment, the chimneys and outlet ports lie between the inlet members of a palisaded linear array of concentrators. In a yet more preferred embodiment, the chimney and outlet ports penetrate multiple layers of a two-dimensional stack of linear arrays, forming a common outlet ductwork joined to an exhaust manifold, which in turn is fitted with a means for generating a suction pressure, such as a vacuum pump, blower, or other vacuum source. In practice, the flow resistance in each of the bulk flow channels and collector channels will establish the flow split of the device when operated with a common source of suction pressure source.
The generally concave upstream walls of the backend skimmer body members, also termed the downstream walls of the lateral flow channels, the chimney spaces, the outlet orifices, and the exhaust manifold, are configured for extracting a bulk flow from the focused particle beam or ribbon under conditions where the bulk flow remains generally coherent and laminar, even at high flow rates and flow splits.
In operation of a two-dimensional array of nozzle (aerodynamic lens, or other intake member) and skimmer element combinations, particle-laden gas streams are first caused to enter the inlet, generally under suction. The gas streams are accelerated and focused into a particle beam or ribbon as they enter the inlet raceway of the skimmer bodies and advance toward the virtual impactor void between the concave surfaces of the backend body members. The minor flow continues into the collector channel; it exits the collector channel downstream and can be collected or processed further. The bulk flow, depleted of particles according to the efficiency of the virtual impactor, is diverted into the lateral flow channels, where it is supported on concavedly contoured surfaces, thereby increasing coherence of the flow. The bulk flow is conveyed to the chimney structure and enters the exhaust ducts. Accordingly, each element of the two-dimensional array separates a particle beam into a minor flow exiting a downstream face of the array and a bulk flow exiting a lateral face (or faces) of the array. Linear arrays (rows) of concentrator elements operate similarly. Both linear and sheet arrays may be manufactured by stacking individual modules or by forming multiple units of intake member:skimmer pairs simultaneously.
It has been said here that the lateral flow channels of the inventive skimmers of this type are characterized in that the upstream walls of the downstream body members are generally concavedly curved or contoured, that is, the lateral arms of the flow channels curve in an arc that is generally orthogonally or obtusely bending away from long axis of flow through the crossed tee junction. In another sense, the throat of the lateral flow channels is concavo-convexedly curved, and bends back so as to intersect a line drawn through the crossed-tee junction perpendicular to the long axis of flow, in some instances forming a “U-turn”. In one embodiment, the streamlines can be contoured in an arcuate path, contactingly bending concavedly away from the long axis of flow, and are then recontoured so as to bend back in an “S” shape. In some skimmers, the throat of the lateral flow channels can be a diverging throat, in others a converging throat, and so forth.
In another embodiment, the skimmers are annular, having axial symmetry, and the major flow bends back and away from the long axis of flow all around a virtual impactor orifice, the virtual impactor void for receiving a particle beam. The body of an annular skimmer may be generally cylindrical in section. Viewed from above, the virtual impactor orifice is a bullseye hole in a dish-shaped target, the dish being generally concavedly curved like the inside of a contoured bowl. The upstream body member of the skimmer is shaped in the form of a rounded nipple surrounded on all sides by an open chimney space. The inlet of the skimmer and the virtual impactor orifice are coaxial and fluidly contiguous with the chimney space in every direction via a narrow annular flow channel between the upstream body and the downstream body. The inlet end of the skimmer is fluidly connected to an outlet end of an aerodynamic lens or lenses, convergent nozzle, or other intake member, where the aerodynamic lens or lenses, convergent nozzle, or other intake member is also formed with axial symmetry. Advantageously, the disposition of the chimney around the lower aspect of the intake member allows the outlet channel of the skimmer to be very short.
Uses of the present invention include detection of biological or chemical warfare agents in the form of aerosols, collection of industrial pollutant particles such as fly ash in a gas plume, sampling of air in buildings associated with “sick building” syndrome, collection of infectious or disease-causing organisms in hospitals and public spaces, the collection of radioactive particles, and collection of biological aerosols such as endotoxins, indoor and outdoor allergens, respirable or inhalable pathogens, mists, and so forth. It is also contemplated that the present invention may be used for the detection and collection of airborne particles associated with illegal drugs and explosives or their precursors. The concavedly curving lateral channel configuration disclosed here is discovered to be associated with improved particle recovery.
The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Although the following detailed description contains many specific details for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention described below are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention.
Throughout the present description, the terms “upstream” and “downstream” are used to refer to an orientation in respect to the direction of the gas stream flow from the inlet of the device to the outlet of the device on its long axis of flow. A nozzle or aerodynamic lens, for example, is typically placed upstream of a skimmer. An upstream wall of a lateral flow channel faces the outlet, and so forth. Similarly, “anterior” refers to an aspect or member in proximity to or in the direction of the inlet and “posterior” to an aspect or member in proximity to or in the direction of the outlet.
“Aerosol”—refers to a body or bodies of solid, liquid or gel-like particulate matter suspended in a gas volume, and may connote a population of such particulate bodies. This can include dust motes, exfoliated skin, fibers, spores, vegetative cells, mists, condensates, mucous droplets, micro droplets of saliva and bronchial secretions, pollen grains, bacterial cells, viruses, aerosolized biowarfare dispersions, inorganic particles (road dust or chemicals) and the like. The particulate body may be a composite, containing both solid and liquid matter. Such particulate bodies can remain suspended in a gas for long periods of time, can be carried on currents in the air, or can settle onto surfaces from which they may be resuspended by agitation.
“Minor flow” refers to a particle-rich gas stream formed with a “particle beam” or a “particle ribbon” by focusing an aerosol and splitting off a particle-depleted “bulk flow”. A virtual impactor provides the means for fractionating the minor flow and the bulk flow. The minor flow flows into a “collector channel” or “divertor.” The bulk flow flows into “lateral flow channels”, or “passages”, which are most commonly symmetrically disposed around the long axis of flow of the gas stream and which divert the bulk flow to exhaust.
“Intake element, unit, or manifold”, also termed an “intake member”, refers to any portal or portal-associated structure for admitting a gas stream (and entrained aerosol particles) into a device or apparatus, generally under the influence of a suction pressure attached to an “outlet” downstream from the inlet. Intake members include intake manifold, intake orifice, intake port, intake slit, aperture, tube, pipe, channel, tubularity, conduit, duct, passage, mouth, nozzle, throat, raceway, and the like. A preferred intake member includes focusing elements for forming a particle beam within the gas stream. Focusing elements include inlet raceway, convergent nozzle, acceleration nozzle, tapered nozzle, virtual cyclone, acceleration slit, aerodynamic lens, focusing aerodynamic lenses, and the like, and as are known in the art.
“Concavoconvex”: having one concave and one convex surface, as in a bending channel having two opposing walls or surfaces, where one wall or surface is bent concavedly and the other wall is bent convexedly. The two walls or surfaces need not be equidistant at all points, and the channel defined therebetween may taper or broaden, for example a throat in the form of a bell, as in the bell of a musical instrument. By way of example,
Turning now to the figures,
Also, the flow split to the minor flow collector channel and lateral flow channels can be varied by adjusting the ratio of the parallel resistance to flow in the pathways, for example with valves, choked orifices or other flow restrictions, if this is desired. In a typical application, the ratio of minor flow to bulk flow is 1:10 to 1:400, more preferably 1:20 to 1:200. These resistances are controlled by adjusting cross-sectional areas in the throats of the channels or by adding resistances in series along one or the other of the pathways.
The “inlet aperture” (128) forms the mouth of the inlet raceway (126) and may be a slit, a rectangle, an ellipse, a circle or other geometric shape. In one embodiment, the inlet aperture is a slit and the inlet raceway has a rectangular cross-section with a width of 20-1000 microns, more preferably 50-200 microns and a height scaled to the required flow throughput. Because of the relatively small dimensions of the channels of the skimmer body, the flow in the channels will be generally laminar (Reynolds numbers <2000, more preferably <1200) and the flow will attain steady state laminar flow, reducing and stabilizing or eliminating stagnation and recirculation zones in the collector channel and skimmer. The inlet raceway, in its broadest embodiment, is simply a narrowing of the inlet passageway, and the inlet aperture is simply the entrance of the inlet passageway into the skimmer body.
The virtual impactor void (132) is the inlet to the collector channel (127) and is located symmetrically at the center of flow of the generally concave surfaces formed by the upstream walls of the skimmer outlet body members. The virtual impactor void can be a round hole or a slit, for example.
Larger cross-sectional areas of the chimneys are enabled by placing the chimneys between adjacent nozzles without increasing the spacing of the nozzles. Because the pressure drops across the mouth of the lateral flow channels and mouth of the collector channel affect performance, narrow or tortuous lateral flow channels, chimneys and exhaust ductwork could result in large and non-uniform pressure drops between skimmer bodies in the center of the array versus the edges of the array, degrading overall performance. A larger cross-sectional area of the chimneys ensures that performance parameters are constant for the entire collector array independent of depth of the array and height of the chimney stack.
Operationally, a gas stream entering the skimmer through inlet (139) is focused into a particle-rich core and a particle-depleted sheath. The gas stream linear velocity is accelerated in the nozzle and aerodynamic lenses, forming a planar jet with particle-rich core. At the “crossed-tee” junction (125) of the inlet raceway (126) and the lateral flow channels (134,135), the sheath of the gas stream is stripped away by negative pressure in the chimneys and only the core streamlines cross through the virtual impactor void (132) at the mouth of the collector channel (127). Particles, by virtue of their aerodynamic size and inertia, continue with the core flow, whereas the particle-depleted sheath streamlines bend and follow the lateral flow channels (134, 135) into the chimneys (136, 137). Bulk flow diverted to the chimneys exits the device through holes cut in the outside of the device (not shown).
The minor flow streams which exit the aerodynamic lens array may be accelerated in the converging channels of the adaptor, and delivered to another, second-stage aerodynamic lens or nozzle and skimmer, which can provide an additional concentration step.
In
Unlike prior art assemblies which are micro-machined, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is made by molding and assembling plastic parts, which can be inexpensively mass-produced.
Two clamshell configurations are readily conceived. As shown in
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) may be used to predict pressure drops and cut size of the devices. Large scale eddy simulation, K-epsilon turbulence calculations, or a full Navier Stokes model may be used. These methods have been used in the design of many of our prototypes over the past few years, many of which have been tested experimentally. Certain hybrid CFD techniques yield relatively good agreement between predictions and actual results without the need to do a full Navier Stokes solution.
In
The “wall separation” phenomenon shown in
In contrast, the contours of streamlines of ADL408B, shown in
These experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of about 800 and at a flow split of 20:1. Particles tested included polystyrene spheres and Bacillus subtilis spores.
As can be seen for ADL408B, the cut size is clearly less than 0.8 microns and collection efficiency of particles greater than 2 microns is 100%. For comparison, recovery data for an earlier prototype of ADL2 (shown in
This insight taught us that the streamlines (214) shown in
In
Also shown in
In another aspect, the present invention is an article of manufacture. The product is made by a process in which a one-piece molded part is used to make linear arrays of inlet-skimmer assemblies, each assembly having two interchangeable parts. The piece functions as a right wall of an inlet-skimmer in one orientation and a left wall of the inlet-skimmer in the other orientation. The two halves are assembled with glue or by ultrasonic welding. The pieces can be molded so that the plane of symmetry cuts down the middle of the inlet and collector channel, and the skimmer y-gap dimension or “slit width” is established by spacer ribs on the tops and bottoms of the channels (see
Serendipitously, the concave, generally obtuse geometry of the downstream body members of the skimmer of the present invention is more readily manufactured by injection molding than the acute-angled and convexedly angled nose geometries of the prior art—because the body masses are thick sectioned, unlike the delicate, easily deformed nose geometries of the prior art, which are difficult to manufacture to the required tolerances. Elimination of acute angles in the design associated with prior art designs featuring a “nose” or “tubulated probe” forming the virtual impactor void exterior surface and their replacement with the obtuse, radiused, arcuate block design of the ADL408 design, and related designs, clearly relieves potential mass manufacturing problems associated with tight tolerances and thin walls or knife-like edges, another unexpected benefit. Similarly, the devices are easier to manufacture by micromachining, because bends are radiused without the need to form delicate structural features. With this design, lateral flow channel throat constrictions on each side of the virtual impactor void (the mouth of the collector channel, beginning at the lips of the virtual impactor void) can be maintained in high-throughput production runs at dimensions in the range of 10-5000 micrometers, depending on the application. For applications such as detection of biowarfare agents, a constriction of 50-255 micrometers can prove useful. For applications such as detection of mining dust, flue gas, or allergens, a constriction of 200-5000 micrometers can prove useful. For applications such as diesel particle exhaust, a constriction of 10-100 micrometers can prove useful.
As described above (paragraph 0084), the inventive devices are not limited to generally slit-like devices and may be annular in cross-section, where the aerodynamic lenses or other intake member and the skimmer have axial symmetry around a long axis of flow established in the intake member. An exemplary realization of an axisymmetrical embodiment is shown in
In
In
The downstream body member (307) is characterized by a “dish-shaped” surface (308) that is generally convex, umbonate, or toroidal in contour and is provided with a virtual impactor void (310) at the center, which forms an entry to a collector channel (311). A particle beam exiting the inlet raceway (304) is directed, aimed, or focused at the bullseye mouth of the virtual impactor void (310). A communicating lip surrounds the bullseye mouth and is confluent with the dish-shaped lower surface of an annular flow channel (315), which may be visualized as a narrow vaulted channel or “divertor” that completely rings the central axis of flow and is shown in cross-section in
Turning first to the functional views called out in
The gap with height “H” between the two surfaces (308, 309) forming the annular flow channel (315) can be seen in this example as having a minimus in height or “constriction” that acts as a flow restrictor in proximity to the lips of the inlet and collector channels. As illustrated here, the gap height H can also be seen to increase or “flare” as the upstream and downstream surfaces of the annular flow channel diverge concavoconvexedly at increasing radial distance from the centerline of axial flow. The contour of the downstream surface (308) is thus generally concave, but follows the interior surface of a horn torus as it approaches the centerline axis as shown here, and is then rounded to form the communicating lip (310a) of the virtual impactor void (310), also termed here the “bullseye hole in a dish-shaped target.” Radial contour profiles of the downstream surface are selected on the basis of CFD modeling and may be varied to achieve smooth streamline separation of bulk and minor flows and a desired cut size at a target flow split and velocity. Flow splits between bulk flow and minor flow may be proportioned (volumetrically) at greater than 7:3, 9:1, 20:1, or higher, for example, and may be controlled by downstream pressure, for example using a means for generating a downstream suction pressure, wherein said means for generating said suction pressure comprises a pump, a blower, a retractable piston, a diaphragm pump, a bellows pump, an eductor, a positive displacement pump, or a vacuum source and the means is independently controllable so that chimney suction pressure and collector channel suction pressure are independently controlled by valves, flow restrictors, or accessory pumping means. Flow split can also be controlled by geometry; where gap height H may be for example, 10 to 5000 micrometers in height in radial section and may be proportioned to the diameter of the virtual impactor mouth. As shown, the streamlines of the bulk flow along an arcuate path away from the direction of said long axis of flow of said gas stream, said arcuate path bending more than 90°, in some instances more than 110° or in other instances as much as 180° away from the direction of the centerline axis of flow and following the surface of the downstream member of the skimmer body, in other words optionally making an “Ell-turn”, a “U-turn” or an “S-turn” where the turn is arcuate and contoured, so that the bulk flow streamlines in the annular flow channel adjacent to the skimmer junction are preferentially contacted with the downstream wall of the skimmer during the diversion from the long axis of flow into the chimney space. By designing so that the bulk flow streamlines follow the downstream surface of the skimmer dish in a generally concavedly contoured axisymmetric bend, improvements in particle recovery and concentration are obtained.
Now, returning to
A multistage intake member is featured, consisting from top to bottom of an acceleration cone (330) with conical orifice (331), a pre-focusing aerodynamic lens (332), and four convergent focusing aerodynamic lenses (333, 334, 335, 336) in series. The precise number and configuration of intake members and focusing elements is arbitrarily chosen here for purposes of illustration, and a particular configuration to be used for a particular application is generally optimized experimentally.
The pre-focusing aerodynamic lens (332) is characterized by a constriction in the flow path with upstream and downstream contouring, and thus appears in cross section like a speed bump. The dimensions of the four lower stages (333, 334, 335, 336) are essentially identical to those of the aerodynamic lenses of
By use of the skimmers disclosed here in combination with an intake member for forming a particle ribbon or particle beam, aerosols may be concentrated and collected from any flowing gas stream, such as a diesel exhaust, a flue gas, an air column in a public facility, factory, or on a battlefield, and so forth. The dimensions, configurations, and flow rates of the devices may be matched to the desired sampling conditions. The devices of the invention may be interfaced with a particle analysis module or particle capture module so that particles concentrated in the device are analyzed on line, in real time, or are collected for later characterization and quantitation.
While the above is a description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to use various alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined not with reference to the above description but should, instead, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with their full scope of equivalents. The appended claims are not to be interpreted as including means-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase “means for.”
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and the claims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open and inclusive sense, as in, “including, but not limited to”.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/125,458, filed on 22 May 2008, which is incorporated herein in full by reference for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12125458 | May 2008 | US |
| Child | 12964700 | US |
