Mingzhou Yu

A New Moment Method for Solving the Coagulation Equation for Particles in Brownian Motion

A new numerical approach for solving coagulation equation, TEMOM model, is first presented. In this model, the closure of the moment equations is approached using the Taylor-series expansion technique. Through constructing a system of three first-order ordinary differential equations, the most important indexes for describing aerosol dynamics, including particle number density, particle mass and geometric standard deviation, are easily obtained. This approach has no prior requirement for particle size spectrum, and the limitation existing in the log-normal distribution theory automatically disappears. This new approach is tested by comparing it with known accurate solutions both in the free molecular and the continuum regime. The results show that this new approach can be used to solve the particle general dynamic equation undergoing Brownian coagulation with sufficient accuracy, while less computational cost is needed.

Luminescent properties of rare-earth-doped CaWO4 phosphor films prepared by the Pechini sol-gel process

CaWO4 phosphor films doped with rare-earth ions (Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+) were prepared by the Pechini sol–gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, atomic force microscopy, and photoluminescence spectra, as well as lifetimes, were used to characterize the resulting powders and films. The results of the XRD analysis indicated that the films began to crystallize at 400°C and that the crystallinity increased with elevation of the annealing temperature. The doped rare-earth ions showed their characteristic emissions in crystalline CaWO4 phosphor films due to energy transfer from WO42− groups to them. Both the lifetimes and PL intensities of the doped rare-earth ions increased with increasing annealing temperature, from 500 to 900°C, and the optimum concentrations for Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+ were determined as 30, 1.5, 1.5, 0.5 at.% of Ca2+ in CaWO4 films annealed at 900°C, respectively.

Luminescence properties of RP1-xVxO4: A (R=Y, Gd, La; A=Sm3+Er3+ x=0, 0.5, 1) thin films prepared by pechini sol-gel process

Thin film phosphors with compositions of RP1-xVxO4: A (R = Y, Gd, La; A = Sm3+, Et3+; x = 0, 0.5, 1) have been prepared by a Pechini sol-gel process. X-Ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra were utilized to characterize the thin film phosphors. The results of XRD showed that a solid solution formed in YVxP1-xO4: A film series from x = 0 to x = 1 with zircon structure, which also held for GdVO4: A film. However, LaVO4: A film crystallized with a different structure, monazite. AFM study revealed that the phosphor films consisted of homogeneous particles ranging from 90 to 400 nm depending on the compositions. Upon short ultraviolet excitation, the films exhibit the characteristic Sm(3+ 4)G(5/2)-H-6(J) (J=5/2, 7/2, 9/2) emission in the red region and Er3+ H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2)-I-4(15/2) emission in the green region, respectively With the increase of x values in YVxP1-xO4: SM3+ (Er3+) films, the emission intensity Of SM3+ (Er3+) increases due to the increase of energy transfer probability from VO43- to Sm3+ (Er3+). Due to the structural effects, the Sm3+ (Er3+) shows similar spectral properties in YVO4 and GdVO4 films, which are much different from those in LaVO4 film.

Solution of the agglomerate Brownian coagulation using Taylor-expansion moment method

The newly proposed Taylor-expansion moment method (TEMOM) is extended to solve agglomerate coagulation in the free-molecule regime and in the continuum regime, respectively. The moment equations with respect to fractal dimension are derived based on 3rd Taylor-series expansion technique. The validation of this method is done by comparing its result with the published data at each limited size regime. By comparing with analytical method, sectional method (SM) and quadrature method of moments (QMOMs), this new approach is shown to produce the most efficiency without losing much accuracy. At each limited size regime, the effect of fractal dimension on the decay of particle number and particle size growth is mainly investigated, and especially in the continuum regime the relation of mean diameters of size distributions with different fractal dimensions is first proposed. The agglomerate size distribution is found to be sensitive to the fractal dimension and the initial geometric mean deviation before the self-preserving size distribution is achieved in the continuum regime.

Numerical Simulation For Nucleated Vehicle Exhaust Particulate Matters Via The Temom/Les Method

The combination of large eddy simulation (LES) and newly proposed Taylor-series expansion method of moments (TEMOM) is performed for simulating particulate matters emitted from vehicle engine tailpipe. The momentum, heat and mass transfer, binary homogeneous nucleation, Brownian coagulation, Brownian and turbulent diffusion, condensation and thermophoresis are simultaneously taken into account. Good agreements between the experimental and simulated results with respect to the pollutant dispersion are obtained. Compared to other published methods, the present TEMOM requires the least computational time with much accuracy for predicting nanoparticle dynamics. The instantaneous results show that large eddies dominate the evolution of particulate dynamics as exhaust develops, while binary homogeneous sulfuric-water nucleation mainly appears at the interface between the exhaust and ambient cool gases. The increasing of fuel sulfur content and relative humidity or the decreasing of environment temperature leads to an increase in particulate product rate, while volume-averaged particle diameter increases with increasing fuel sulfur content and environment temperature. The variation of geometric standard deviation suggests the nucleated particles eventually approach the asymptotic distribution in the dilution atmosphere, and this distribution is independent of the fuel sulfur content. The variance of upstream turbulence intensity significantly affects the evolution of particulate matters inside the plume.

Size Dependence of the Ratio of Aerosol Coagulation to Deposition Rates for Indoor Aerosols

A thorough understanding of the importance of aerosol coagulation and deposition relative to each other as modifiers of the particle size distribution plays an important role in the proper selection of conditions to estimate the deposition rate coefficient. In this work, a theoretical analysis was conducted for investigating the size-resolved ratio of coagulation to deposition for different types of size distributions using the Simpson integral method. The theoretical model was subsequently qualitatively validated by experiments in a completely mixed and ventilated aerosol chamber. Both experimental and theoretical studies show that the ratio of the rates of coagulation to deposition is strongly dependent on the total particle number concentration and the geometric mean diameter of the aerosol. A variation of the ratio of coagulation to deposition by several orders of magnitude for aerosols with differing size distributions was found. Thus the previously employed criterion for the negligence of coagulation based solely on the total particle number concentration was shown to be insufficient to accurately judge whether an aerosol is suited for the estimation of the deposition rate coefficient. Aerosols with wide size distributions are not recommended for use in the estimation of the deposition rate coefficient. The study provides a method to understand the role of coagulation and deposition for indoor aerosols. Copyright 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research

Range-Finding Risk Assessment of Inhalation Exposure to Nanodiamonds in a Laboratory Environment

This study considers fundamental methods in occupational risk assessment of exposure to airborne engineered nanomaterials. We discuss characterization of particle emissions, exposure assessment, hazard assessment with in vitro studies, and risk range characterization using calculated inhaled doses and dose-response translated to humans from in vitro studies. Here, the methods were utilized to assess workers’ risk range of inhalation exposure to nanodiamonds (NDs) during handling and sieving of ND powder. NDs were agglomerated to over 500 nm particles, and mean exposure levels of different work tasks varied from 0.24 to 4.96 µg·m−3 (0.08 to 0.74 cm−3). In vitro-experiments suggested that ND exposure may cause a risk for activation of inflammatory cascade. However, risk range characterization based on in vitro dose-response was not performed because accurate assessment of delivered (settled) dose on the cells was not possible. Comparison of ND exposure with common pollutants revealed that ND exposure was below 5 μg·m−3, which is one of the proposed exposure limits for diesel particulate matter, and the workers’ calculated dose of NDs during the measurement day was 74 ng which corresponded to 0.02% of the modeled daily (24 h) dose of submicrometer urban air particles.

Effects R3+ on the photoluminescent properties of Ca2R8(SiO4)6O2:A?(R = Y,La,Gd;A = Eu3+,Tb3+) phosphor films prepared by the sol?gel process

Using CaCO3, metal oxides (all dissolved by nitric acid) and tetraethoxysilane Si(OC2H5)(4) (TEOS) as the main starting materials, Ca2R8(SiO4)(6)O-2:A (R = Y, La, Gd; A = EU3+, Tb3+) phosphor films have been dip-coated on quartz glass substrates through the sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as lifetimes were used to characterize the resulting films. The results of XRD indicated that the 1000 degreesC annealed films are isomorphous and crystallize with the silicate oxyapatite structure. AFM and SEM studies revealed that the phosphor films consisted of homogeneous particles ranging from 30 to 90 nm, with an average thickness of 1.30 mum. The Eu3+ and Tb3+ show similar spectral properties independent of R 3, in the films due to their isomorphous crystal structures. However, both the emission intensity and lifetimes of Eu3+ and Tb3+ in Ca2R8(SiO4)(6)O-2 (R = Y, La, Gd) films decrease in the sequence of R = Gd > R = Y > R = La, which have been explained in accordance with the crystal structures.

Generalized TEMOM Scheme for Solving the Population Balance Equation

This article proposes a novel generalized Taylor expansion method of moments (TEMOM) scheme for solving the population balance equation. The proposed scheme can completely overcome the shortcoming of the existing TEMOM and substantially improve the accuracy for both integer and fractional moments. In the generalized TEMOM, the optimal number of equations is 2+1, where is an integer greater than zero. The existing TEMOM is a special case of the generalized TEMOM when is 1. The generalized TEMOM was tested for aerosols undergoing Brownian coagulation in the continuum regime, and it was verified to achieve nearly the same accuracy as the quadrature method of moments (QMOM) with a fractional moment sequence, and higher accuracy than the QMOM with an integer moment sequence. Regarding accuracy and efficiency, the generalized TEMOM scheme was verified to be a competitive method for solving the population balance equation. Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research

An Aerosol-Based Process for Electrostatic Coating of Particle Surfaces with Nanoparticles

An aerosol-based process for coating the surface of arbitrary “carrier” particles with other types of (smaller) “coating” particles via mutual electrostatic attraction is described. Its practical viability was tested by depositing negatively charged 12-nm palladium particles on 250-nm silica spheres carrying a charge of approximately +40 units each. At respective concentrations of 3 to 8 × 106 particles per cm3 (with a charge fraction of about 25%) and 1 × 104 particles per cm3, the deposition process runs to completion (i.e., to neutralization of the carrier particles) within less than a minute. Comparative estimates show that electrostatically enhanced deposition rates are up to 50 times higher than purely thermal collisions. Transmission electron micrographs show a fairly uniform distribution of coating particles across the surface of the carrier particles. The electrostatic coating kinetics were determined experimentally via the charge loss of the carrier particles and compared also to numerical simulations using Zebels model for electrostatic enhancement of the collision kernel. Measured rates were generally within 10–15% of the simulations, except for the very early stages of attachment (the first 10 s), where agreement was found to be rather sensitive to the coating particle concentration, possibly due to space charge effects. Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research