Apparatus for determining aerosol particle size comprising a combined diffuser-denuder

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AEROSOL PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION INCLUDING IN COMBINATION A COMBINED DIFFUSERDENUDER COMPRISED BY A DIFFUSION BOX FORMED FROM A GASTIGHT HOUSING HAVING AN INPUT PLENUM AND AN OUTPUT PLENUM AND A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE SPACEDAPART COLLECTING MEMBERS SUPPORTED WITHIN THE HOUSING AND INTERCONNECTING THE TWO PLENUMS, ONE SET OF ALTERNATE SPACED-APART COLLECTING MEMBERS BEING ELECTRICALLY INTERCONNECTED AND INSULATED ELECTRICALLY FROM THE REMAINIGN SET OF ALTERNATE SPACE-APART COLLECTING MEMBERS WHICH LIKEWISE ARE ELECTRICALLY INTERCONNECTED, THE SPACING BETWEEN THE COLLECTING MEMBERS BEING IN THE ORDER OF .01 TO .10 INCH AND THE TOTAL COLLECTING AREA OF THE COLLECTING MEMBERS IS IN THE ORDER OF 500 TO 10,000 SQUARE INCHES, A SOURCE OF LOW VOLTAGE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL IN THE ORDER OF 100 VOLTS, SELECTIVELY OPERABLE SWITCHING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONNECTING THE SOURCE OF LOW VOLTAGE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL IN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT RELATIONSHIP ACROSS THE TWO SETS OF THE ELECTRICALLY INTERCONNECTED ALTERNATE COLLECTING MEMBERS, A SOURCE OF RADIANT ENERGY MOUNTED IN THE INPUT PLENUM FOR BRINGING THE AEROSOLS IN THE GASEOUS SAMPLE BEING TREATED TO ELECTRICAL EQUILIBRIUM, A CONDENSATION NUCLEI METER HAVING ITS INPUT OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO THE OUTPUT PLENUM OF THE COMBINED DIFFUSERDENUDER, AND SELECTIVELY OPERABLE BYPASS MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE INPUT PLENUM OF THE COMBINED DIFFUSERDENUDER AND THE INPUT OF THE CONDENSATION NUCLEI METER FOR SELECTIVELY BYPASSING THE GASEOUS SAMPLE TO BE MONITORED AROUND THE COMBINED DIFFUSER-DENUDER.