Measurements of ultrafine particle concentrations and size distribution in an iron foundry.
The number and surface area concentration of ultrafine particles in an iron foundry is of interest as freshly generated ultrafine particles are produced by metal melting, pouring and molding processes. This study measured the number and surface area concentrations of ultrafine particles and their size distributions in an iron foundry using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). The 10-100 nm ultrafine particle number concentrations (NC(0.01-0.1)) and surface area concentrations (SC(0.01-0.1)) measured at the iron foundry were 2.07 x 10(4) to 2.82 x 10(5)particles cm(-3) and 67.56 to 2.13 x 10(3)microm(2)cm(-3), respectively. The concentrations changed dramatically depending on on-site manufacturing conditions. The NC(0.01-0.1) levels in the iron foundry were approximately 4.5 times higher on average compared with those in the outdoor ambient environment. These measurement results indicate that the presence of extra particles in the workplace air is within the ultrafine range. Additionally, the analytical results suggest that the number mode diameter can be used to estimate the SC(0.01-0.1) levels using the NC(0.01-0.1) levels. Moreover, the ultrafine particle number mode diameter was found to be about 46.1 nm in the iron foundry.
Cheng
Yu-Hsiang
YH
Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Mingchi University of Technology, 84 Gungjuan Road, Taishan, Taipei, Taiwan. yhcheng@mail.mit.edu.tw
Chao
Yen-Chi
YC
Wu
Cheng-Han
CH
Tsai
Chuen-Jinn
CJ
Uang
Shi-Nian
SN
Shih
Tung-Sheng
TS
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis*; D008669:Metallurgy; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D007220:Industrial Waste; D052638:Particulate Matter; D007501:Iron