Deposition of aerosol particles on rough surfaces inside a test chamber

We investigated the deposition rate of aerosol particles (diameter between 0.03 and 5 μm) on rough surfaces of wallpapers, wall-plasters, and two types of carpets inside a test chamber. Compared to a smooth aluminum surface, the deposition rate of aerosol particles on the tested surfaces was up to 20 times depending on the surface roughness, mixing intensity, and particle size. A rough surface with a dimensionless surface roughness height k+ < 0.06 can be treated as a hydraulically smooth. The estimated deposition rates in this study and those predicted by a deposition model, which incorporates surface roughness, were in good agreement for coarse mode particles (diameter > 1 μm) when k+ < 1.04 and for ultrafine particles (diameter < 0.1 μm) when k+ < 0.48. The agreement between the model prediction and our estimation was better for coarse mode particles than for ultrafine particles. Deposition of aerosol particles, especially fine particles, needs more empirical investigations aiming at improving the existing models.