Apparatus for Light Scattering Studies of Smoke Particles.
Apparatus for Light Scattering Studies of Smoke
Particles.
(271 K)
Weinert, D. W.; Mulholland, G. W.
NIST SP 965; February 2001.
International Conference on Automatic Fire Detection
"AUBE '01", 12th. Proceedings. National Institute of
Standards and Technology. March 25-28, 2001,
Gaithersburg, MD, Beall, K.; Grosshandler, W. L.; Luck,
H., Editor(s)(s), 31-42 pp, 2001.
Keywords:
fire detection; fire detection systems; particles; light
scattering; smoke; aerosols; computation; gravimeters
Abstract:
A facility for measuring the light scattered by smokes
as a function of the scattering angle and linear
polarization has been developed. By using monosize
polystyrene calibration particles and filter collection
for gravimeteric measurement, we are able for the first
time to measure the differential (angular distribution)
scattering cross section per mass of a flame generated
smoke particle. This differential mass scattering cross
section is a measure of the light scattering strength of
a particle in units of area per mass. The light
scattering apparatus used in these measurements has
provided repeatable results over a dynamic signal range
of 3 to 4 orders of magnitude. Uncertainties lie in the
range of 10 % to 20 % and are mainly due to the angular
averaging of the calibration factor. The method and
apparatus developed was then applied to acetylene smoke,
which was produced in a consistent and reproducible
manner by a co-flow laminar diffusion burner.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899