Determination of Particle Size Distribution of Particulate Matter Emitted from a Layer Operation in Southeast U.S.
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Date
2009-08-10
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Abstract
This thesis reports a field study on characterizing particle size distribution (PSD) of particulate matter (PM) emitted from a commercial layer operation in the Southeastern U.S. across three seasons from October of 2008 to April of 2009. Six low-volume (1m3/h) total suspended particulate (TSP) samplers were used to collect PM samples in two high-rise layer houses. A laser diffraction particle size analyzer (LS13 320) at North Carolina State University (NCSU), a laser scattering particle size analyzer (LA-300) at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and a Coulter Counter Multisizer 3 (CCM 3) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) or USDA-ARS cotton production & processing unit in Lubbock, TX were used to measure PSD of PM samples collected by the TSP samplers. Particle size distributions measured by these three instruments were compared. Results of the study indicate that TSP concentrations across the three seasons ranged from 888 to 5333 µg/m3. Total suspended particulate concentration was affected by season, animal activity, floor, and equivalent air flow rate factor. It was observed that TSP concentration in winter was higher than in spring; concentration on the second floor was higher than that on the first floor; the more active the animals were, the higher the TSP concentration; and the more the fans were on, the lower the concentration. Compared with PM concentration, PSD (characterized by the mass medium diameter, MMD, and geometric standard deviation, GSD) was affected by season, animal activity, floor and equivalent flow rate factor to a lesser extent. Overall MMDs of PM samples collected in fall, winter and spring, measured by the laser diffraction particle size analyzer were 19.21±1.27 µm, 17.13±0.81µm and 18.44±1.44µm, respectively. Geometric standard deviation (GSD) was relatively constant and not affected by those factors (season, animal activity, floor, and equivalent air flow rate factor). The overall GSD was 2.65±0.08. Significant but constant differences in MMDs and GSDs were detected when comparing PSDs measured by the different instruments. In general, the LA-300 provided the largest MMDs, whereas the CCM 3 gave the smallest MMDs. The LS13 320 provided the largest GSDs, whereas the CCM 3 gave the smallest.
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Keywords
Total suspended particulate, PM2.5, PM10, layer house, Particle size distribution
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Degree
MS
Discipline
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
