Counting and particle transmission efficiency of the aerodynamic particle sizer

The aerodynamic particle sizer (APS) measures the size distributions of particles with aerodynamic diameter between 0.5 and 20μm in real time. To provide accurate size distributions, the APS must measure both particle size and concentration correctly. The objective of this study was to characterize the counting efficiency of the APS as a function of particle size (0.8-10μm), particle type (liquid or solid), and APS model number (3310 vs. 3321). For solid particles, counting efficiencies ranged between 85% and 99%. For liquid droplets, counting efficiencies progressively declined from 75% at 0.8-μm drops to 25% for 10-μm drops. Fluorometric wash tests indicated that transmission losses occur when larger droplets impact on the instrument's inner nozzle. However, transmission losses did not account entirely for the reduced droplet counting efficiencies, indicating that additional losses may have occurred downstream of the inner nozzle. Between instrument comparisons revealed that although multiple APSs report similar number concentrations, small deviations in particle sizing can produce substantial errors when number concentrations are converted to mass concentrations.