Improved Aerosol Collection by Combined Impaction and Centrifugal Motion

A new principle for collecting airborne particles, including microorganisms, has been introduced by injecting the particles into a swirling airflow from where they are removed onto a collection surface. A dry surface, a surface coated with an adhesive substance or a surface wetted by a liquid swirled onto the collection surface from a reservoir below can be used in the new collection method. The swirling air motion and aerosol injection into it are achieved by drawing the airborne particles through nozzles that are directed at an angle toward the collection surface. This principle has been incorporated into a new sampler that has been named “Swirling Aerosol Collector” (SAC; commercially available as the “BioSampler” from SKC Inc., Eighty Four, PA). The physical performance of the SAC has been evaluated against the widely used AGI-30 impinger by measuring the particle concentrations upstream and downstream of each sampler with an aerodynamic particle sizer. Tests with monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) particles ranging from 0.3 to 2.0 mm have shown that the SAC has better collection efficiency than the AGI-30 when the same collection liquid is used. A conventional impinger maintains constant collection efficiency for a relatively short sampling period, as the liquid evaporates quickly due to the violent bubbling of the liquid. In contrast to conventional impingers, the SAC can be used with nonevaporating liquids that are considerably more viscous than the liquids used in the impingers. Thus, the SAC can sample over any period of time. The new aerosol sampler produces minimal or no reaerosolization of particles collected in the liquid in contrast to significant reaerosolization in a conventional impinger. Since the SAC projects the aerosol particles toward the collection surface where they are removed from the swirling flow, it avoids or significantly reduces particle bounce from the collection surface even when the surface is dry.