title: Measurements of ultrafine particle concentrations and size distribution in an iron foundry.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Mingchi University of Technology, 84 Gungjuan Road, Taishan, Taipei, Taiwan. yhcheng@mail.mit.edu.tw
authors.forename: Yu-Hsiang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yen-Chi
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Cheng-Han
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chuen-Jinn
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Shi-Nian
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Uang
authors.forename: Tung-Sheng
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D007220:Industrial Waste; D052638:Particulate Matter; D007501:Iron