Development of Semicontinuous Measurement System of Ionic Species in PM2.5

A new method to semicontinuously determine $PM_{2.5}$ ionic species with a short time resolution is described in detail. In this system, a particle collection section (mixing part, particle collection chamber, and air/liquid separator) was developed. A Y-type connector was used to mix steam and an air sample. The particle collection chamber was constructed in the form of a helix coil and was cooled by a water circulation system. Particle size growth occurred due to the high relative humidity and water absorbed particles were efficiently collected in it. Liquid samples were drained out with a short residence time (0.08-0.1 s). The air/liquid separator was also newly designed to operate efficiently when the flow rate of the air sample was 16.7 L $min^{-1}$. For better performance, the system was optimized for particle collection efficiency with various types of test aerosols such as ($NH_4)_2SO_4,\;NaCl,\;NH_4HSO_4,\;and\;NH_4NO_3$. The particle collection efficiencies were almost 100% at different concentration levels in the range over 500 nm in diameter but 50-90% in the range of 50-500 nm under the following experimental conditions: 15 coil turns, a water flow rate for steam generation of 0.65 mL $min^{-1}$, and an air sample flow rate of 16.7 L $min^{-1}$. Finally, for atmospheric applications, chemical compositions of $PM_{2.5}$ were determined with a time resolution of 20 min on January 11-24, 2006 in Seoul, Korea, and the chemical characteristics of $PM_{2.5}$ ions were investigated.