Updated 11/812010

MECH 606 Aerosol Dynamics"

Instructor: Alan Shihadeh, RGB 414 as20@aub.edu.lb

Catalog description

An aerosol is defined as a collection of solid/liquid particles suspended in a gas. Examples include clouds,diesel smokes, dusts, and pharmaceutical spray inhalants. The objective of this course is to gain anunderstanding of the physical and chemical principles that underlie the behavior of aerosols and theinstruments used to measure them. Topics include: aerosol particle characterization; transport properties andphenomena in quiescent, laminar, and turbulent flows; gas- and particle-particle interactions; and applicationsto human respiratory tract deposition and atmospheric pollution. Pre-requisites: MECH 311, 411, 412 orequiltalents.

List of Topics

• Characteristics of aerosols: source, size, concentration• Particle size distributions: moments of the distribution function• Particle transport properties: Brownian diffusion, electrical migration, thermophoresis, London-van

der Waals forces, boundary conditions• Convective diffusion: concentration boundary layers for various flow geometries• Inertial transport and deposition processes• Particle-particle interactions: collision and coagulation• Particle-gas interactions: thermodynamic properties, nucleation, condensation/evaporation• Respiratory tract deposition mechanics• Atmospheric aerosol dynamics• Particle measurement and experimental methods• The General Dynamic Equation• Simulation methods for aerosol population dynamics• Instruments used in aerosol measurements

Course FormatThe class time will be spent mostly on lectures and discussing the reading assigned for that class period. Wewill regularly discuss recently published journal articles in the area of aerosol science, and we will workproblems in class related to your assignments or lectures.

Texts

The required text for this class is Aerosol Technology. Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of AirborneParticles, W. C. Hinds (Wiley 1999). There are also some very useful references, on reserve in theEngineering Library to help you with your work.

• Fundamentals of Air Pollution Engineering, R.C. Flagan, J. H. Seinfeld (Prentice-Hall, 1988).• Aerosol Measurement: Principles, Techniques and Applications, edited by K. Willeke, P. Baron (Van

Nostrand Reinhold 1993).• Smoke, Dust and Haze: Fundamentals of Aerosol Dynamics, S. K. Friedlander (Oxford University

Press 2000). TD884.5 .

• Thanks to Professor Shelly Miller (http://stJipe.colorado.edu/~shellym/index.shtml) of the University of Colorado atBoulder for most of this syllabus.

Updated 1118/2010

• Journals: Aerosol Science and Technology, Journal of Aerosol Science, Environmental Science andTechnology, Atmospheric Environment.

Problem Assignments

The purpose of the problem assignments is for you to practice (1) solving problems that arise in aerosolscience and air quality engineering and (2) communicating your results to others. There will be five problemassignments, due approximately two weeks from when they are issued. The assignments will be posted onMoodie. The format of the submitted solutions should be as follows:

1. Restate the objective of the problem2. Identify the physical setting of the problem with a well labeled figure of the system or brief

statement of the physical setting, list of important parameters, dimensions, constants, etc.3. Solve the problem showing all assumptions without skipping any steps and include a brief

running summary so that I can follow exactly what you have done. Circle all answers and callattention to important intermediate results.

4. Discuss briefly the significance of the results.

Lab

We will do two (or more if you are interested!) lab experiments involving the measurement of particle sizedistribution in combustion gases and/or atmospheric air. Details of the labs will be announced later.

Grading

Grades will be based on the following categories:

CateQories WeiQht

Problem Assignments and Lab Report(s)Midterm ExamClass participation/presentations

55%30%15%

Assignments are due at the beginning of class. If you turn in your assignment after the first 5 minutes ofclass, but before the end of the day, a 10% penalty will apply. Thereafter, a 20% penalty will be applied foreach additional day late. Please give me feedback about how much time it is taking you to solve anassignment.

2

Updated 11/812010

Tentative course calendar

September 27 29 Intro, uniform Readingarticle motion Ch 1,3

October 4 Particle size 6 Particle size Ch4distributions distributions

13 Diffusion Ch 5, 7

20 Convective Seinfeld & Pandisdiffusion Ch8

25 LAB 27 LAB Readings, Ch 9II

November 1 Holiday 5 Filtration Ch10

8 Concentration 12 Respiratory Ch 11, Martonensampling deposition and Bulk (1992)

motion

15 Holiday22 Holiday

December 29 Coagulation Ch 12, 13

6 Phase change - Ch 15, ReadingsCMAG,CPC

13 Electrical 17 Opticalproperties - DMA properties - OPC

20 Atmospheric 24 Atmospheric Ch 16, 14aerosols aerosols1."_~:lr~

January 3 Case studies 7 Case studies10 Case studies 14 Case studies

ABBREVIATIONS IN RED CORRESPOND TO PARTICULAR AEROSOL INSTRUMENTS THAT ARERELATED TO THE PHENOMENA IN THIS SECTION:

CI - CASCASE IMPACTORDMA - DIFFERENTIAL MOBILITY ANALYZERCMAG - CONDENSATION MONODISPERSE AEROSOL GENERATORCPC - CONDENSATION PARTICLE COUNTEROPC - OPTICAL PARTICLE COUNTER

3