Design and evaluation of miniature cyclones for dust indicators

Abstract

Dust indicators based on light scattering photometers are widely used to measure aerosol concentrations in work environments. These concentrations at workplaces in Japan are measured by these dust indicators and calibrated by mass concentration in order to control workers' exposure to dust. The mass concentration in a specific point in a workplace is measured simultaneously with a dust indicator. The mass concentration of the respirable fraction of dust particles should be determined by the gravimetric method with low volume air samplers or other devices, but some dust indicators are not equipped with a size separator for respirable fraction, and we used to get unstable results at the calibration. In this study, we designed miniature cyclones for a dust indicator and evaluated their performances of respirable fraction and PM2.5 fraction.