Abstract
A cascade impactor is a multistage impaction device used to separate airborne particles into aerodynamic size classes. A micro-orifice impactor uses micro-orifice nozzles to extend the cut sizes of the lower stages to as small as 0.05 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in diameter without resorting to low pressures or creating excessive pressure drops across the impactor stages. In this work, the phenomenon of particle clogging in micro-orifice nozzles was experimentally investigated for a commercial micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI). It was observed, using an optical microscope, that the micro-orifice nozzles of the final stages were partially clogged due to particle deposition during the aerosol sampling. Therefore the pressure drops across the nozzles were higher than the nominal values given by the manufacturer. To examine the effect of particle clogging in micro-orifice nozzles, the particle collection efficiency of the MOUDI was evaluated using an electrical method for fine particles with diameters in the range of 0.1-0.6 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The monodisperse liquid dioctyl sebacate (DOS) particles were used as test aerosols. A faraday cage was employed to measure the low-level current of the charged particles upstream and downstream of each stage. It was found that the collection efficiency curves shifted to correspond to smaller orifice sizes, and the 50-% cutoff sizes were much smaller than those given by the manufacturer for the three stages with nozzles less than 400 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in diameter.
