Standard instrument calibration aerosol test system

>A system for testing personal respirable'' samplers in a well characterized coal dust environment is described. Components of the system, contained in one cabinet, include a Wright Dust Feed mechanism, tritide charge neutralizer, aerosol chamber, electrostatic precipitator sampler, and a GCA Respirable Dust Monitor. in addition to air flow plumbing and controls. Employment of this test system to evaluate the performance of personal respirable'' particulate air sampling instruments required variations in aerosol mass concentration with respect to time and space to be less than plus or minus l0%. Up to four personal respirable'' dust samples can be simultaneously operated within the coal dust cloud. More than 80 tests of 3 or 4 samplers each showed that variation of total or respirable mass concentration is plus or minus 5% within the aerosol chamber. Aerosol aerodynamic size distribution measured with Andersen cascade impactors showed the dust cloud size to be stable within plus or minus 6% throughout periods of operation up to 8 h. (auth