Particle filtration efficiency measured using sodium chloride and polystyrene latex sphere test methods.

Standards governing face masks differ in the test methods used to determine sub-micron particle filtration efficiency (PFE), such that the meaning of PFE is not universal. Unifying the meaning of PFE requires data using these different test methods to drive improvements in standards. This simple data set provides the equivalence between two major test methods used to assess PFE: (1) a test method using a neutralized, polydisperse sodium chloride (NaCl) and (2) a test method using an unneutralized, "monodisperse" polystyrene latex sphere (PSL) aerosols. Measurements are made on over 5800 real-world medical masks, leading to the establishment of a relationship between these two kinds of PFE for these products.

Comparison of measurement systems for assessing number- and mass-based particle filtration efficiency.

The particle filtration efficiency (PFE) of a respirator or face mask is one of its key properties. While the physics of particle filtration results in the PFE being size-dependent, measurement standards are specified using a single, integrated PFE, for simplicity. This integrated PFE is commonly defined concerning either the number (NPFE) or mass (MPFE) distribution of particles as a function of size. This relationship is non-trivial; it is influenced by both the shape of the particle distribution and the fact that multiple practical definitions of particle size are used. This manuscript discusses the relationship between NPFE and MPFE in detail, providing a guide to practitioners. Our discussion begins with a description of the theory underlying different variants of PFE. We then present experimental results for a database of size-resolved PFE (SPFE) measurements for several thousand candidate respirators and filter media, including filter media with systematically varied properties and commercial samples that span 20%-99.8% MPFE. The observed relationships between NPFE and MPFE are discussed in terms of the most-penetrating particle size (MPPS) and charge state of the media. For the sodium chloride particles used here, we observed that the MPFE was greater than NPFE for charged materials and vice versa for uncharged materials. This relationship is observed because a shift from NPFE to MPFE weights the distribution toward larger sizes, while charged materials shift the MPPS to smaller sizes. Results are validated by comparing the output of a pair of automated filter testers, which are used in gauging standards compliance, to that of MPFE computed from a system capable of measuring SPFE over the 20 nm-500 nm range.

Laser-induced incandescence for non-soot nanoparticles: recent trends and current challenges.

Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is a widely used combustion diagnostic for in situ measurements of soot primary particle sizes and volume fractions in flames, exhaust gases, and the atmosphere. Increasingly, however, it is applied to characterize engineered nanomaterials, driven by the increasing industrial relevance of these materials and the fundamental scientific insights that may be obtained from these measurements. This review describes the state of the art as well as open research challenges and new opportunities that arise from LII measurements on non-soot nanoparticles. An overview of the basic LII model, along with statistical techniques for inferring quantities-of-interest and associated uncertainties is provided, with a review of the application of LII to various classes of materials, including elemental particles, oxide and nitride materials, and non-soot carbonaceous materials, and core-shell particles. The paper concludes with a discussion of combined and complementary diagnostics, and an outlook of future research.

Systematic experimental comparison of particle filtration efficiency test methods for commercial respirators and face masks.

Respirators, medical masks, and barrier face coverings all filter airborne particles using similar physical principles. However, they are tested for certification using a variety of standardized test methods, creating challenges for the comparison of differently certified products. We have performed systematic experiments to quantify and understand the differences between standardized test methods for N95 respirators (NIOSH TEB-APR-STP-0059 under US 42 CFR 84), medical face masks (ASTM F2299/F2100), and COVID-19-related barrier face coverings (ASTM F3502-21). Our experiments demonstrate the role of face velocity, particle properties (mean size, size variability, electric charge, density, and shape), measurement techniques, and environmental preconditioning. The measured filtration efficiency was most sensitive to changes in face velocity and particle charge. Relative to the NIOSH method, users of the ASTM F2299/F2100 method have commonly used non-neutralized (highly charged) aerosols as well as smaller face velocities, each of which may result in approximately 10% higher measured filtration efficiencies. In the NIOSH method, environmental conditioning at elevated humidity increased filtration efficiency in some commercial samples while decreasing it in others, indicating that measurement should be performed both with and without conditioning. More generally, our results provide an experimental basis for the comparison of respirators certified under various international methods, including FFP2, KN95, P2, Korea 1st Class, and DS2.

On determining soot maturity: A review of the role of microscopy- and spectroscopy-based techniques.

Incomplete combustion is the main source of airborne soot, which has negative impacts on public health and the environment. Understanding the morphological and chemical evolution of soot is important for assessing and mitigating the impact of soot emissions. Morphological and chemical structures of soot are commonly studied using microscopy or spectroscopy, and the best technique depends on the parameter of interest and the stage of soot formation considered (i.e., maturity). For the earliest stages of soot formation, particles exhibit simple morphology yet complex and reactive chemical composition, which is best studied by spectroscopic techniques sensitive to the large number of soot precursor species. The only microscope that can offer some morphological information at this stage is the scanning probe microscopy, which can image single polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the precursors of soot. A broader range of types of spectrometers and microscopes can be used by increasing the soot maturity. Mature soot is primarily carbon, and exhibits complex fractal-like morphology best studied with electron microscopy and techniques sensitive to thin oxide or organic coatings. Each characterization technique can target different morphological and chemical properties of soot, from the early to the late stage of its formation. Thus, a guideline for the selection of the appropriate technique can facilitates studies on environmental samples involving the presence of soot.

Kalman filter approach for uncertainty quantification in time-resolved laser-induced incandescence.

Time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TiRe-LII) data can be used to infer spatially and temporally resolved volume fractions and primary particle size distributions of soot-laden aerosols, but these estimates are corrupted by measurement noise as well as uncertainties in the spectroscopic and heat transfer submodels used to interpret the data. Estimates of the temperature, concentration, and size distribution of soot primary particles within a sample aerosol are typically made by nonlinear regression of modeled spectral incandescence decay, or effective temperature decay, to experimental data. In this work, we employ nonstationary Bayesian estimation techniques to infer aerosol properties from simulated and experimental LII signals, specifically the extended Kalman filter and Schmidt-Kalman filter. These techniques exploit the time-varying nature of both the measurements and the models, and they reveal how uncertainty in the estimates computed from TiRe-LII data evolves over time. Both techniques perform better when compared with standard deterministic estimates; however, we demonstrate that the Schmidt-Kalman filter produces more realistic uncertainty estimates.

General error model for analysis of laser-induced incandescence signals.

This paper presents a novel error model for TiRe-LII signals and illustrates how the model can be used to diagnose a detection system, quantify uncertainties in TiRe-LII, and characterize fluctuations in the measured process. Noise in a single TiRe-LII measurement shot obeys a Poisson-Gaussian noise model. Variation in the aerosol results in shot-to-shot fluctuations in the measured signals. These fluctuations induce a quadratic relationship between the mean and variance of a set of signals. We show how this model can elucidate aspects of the measurement system and fundamental properties of the aerosol, by comparing the noise model to four sets of experimental data.

Measurement-based meshing, basis selection, and prior assignment in chemical species tomography.

Gas distributions imaged by chemical species tomography (CST) vary in quality due to the discretization scheme, arrangement of optical paths, errors in the measurement model, and prior information included in reconstruction. There is currently no mathematically-rigorous framework for comparing the finite bases available to discretize a CST domain. Following from the Bayesian formulation of tomographic inversion, we show that Bayesian model selection can identify the mesh density, mode of interpolation, and prior information best-suited to reconstruct a set of measurement data. We validate this procedure with a simulated CST experiment, and generate accurate reconstructions despite limited measurement information. The flow field is represented using the finite element method, and Bayesian model selection is used to choose between three forms of polynomial support for a range of mesh resolutions, as well as four priors. We show that the model likelihood of Bayesian model selection is a good predictor of reconstruction accuracy.