Induction Charging and Electrostatic Classification of Micrometer-Size Particles for Investigating the Electrobiological Properties of Airborne Microorganisms
Open Access
- 1 April 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Aerosol Science and Technology
- Vol. 36 (4), 479-491
- https://doi.org/10.1080/027868202753571304
Abstract
Our earlier studies have shown that the electrostatic collection technique, a potentially "gentle" bioaerosol collection method, allows for efficient collection of airborne bacteria, but sensitive bacteria such as Pseudomonas fluorescens ( P. fluorescens ) lose their culturability during collection. We hypothesized that excessive stress was imposed on the sensitive bacteria by the sampler's conventional corona charging mechanism. In this research, we developed and built an experimental setup that allows us to analyze electrobiological properties of airborne microorganisms. In this experimental system, we imparted electric charges on airborne biological and nonbiological particles by aerosolizing them in the presence of an electric field. The charged P. fluorescens test bacteria and NaCl test particles were then channeled into a parallel plate mobility analyzer, which we have designed so that bacteria and inert particles carrying specific charge ranges can be extracted and made available for further analysis. When testing the experimental system, we related the extracted particle concentrations to the total particle concentration and obtained the charge distributions of these particles at different charging conditions. Our results have shown that even without charging, aerosolized P. fluorescens bacteria have a net negative charge and can carry up to 13,000 elementary charges per bacterium. In contrast, the NaCl particles were found to carry very few electric charges. We concluded that the electric charge carried by a bacterium consists of 2 components: its own natural charge, which can be high, and the charge imposed on it by the dispersion process. Our experiments have shown that the charge distributions on biological and nonbiological particles can be effectively manipulated by varying the external electric field during their aerosolization. Since airborne microorganisms may carry high internal electric charges, their collection by electrical field forces may be possible without first electrically charging them.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SINTERED POROUS METAL FILTERSJournal of Aerosol Science, 2000
- in living rooms occupied by cigarette smokers and non-smokers in Sosnowiec, Upper Silesia, PolandAerobiologia, 1998
- Particle Charge Distribution Measurement for Commonly Generated Laboratory AerosolsAerosol Science and Technology, 1998
- Tutorial review: Simultaneous measurement of particle size and particle chargeJournal of Aerosol Science, 1997
- Ozone Generation by Indoor, Electrostatic Air CleanersAerosol Science and Technology, 1997
- Evaluation of single-use masks and respirators for protection of health care workers against mycobacterial aerosolsAmerican Journal of Infection Control, 1994
- Charging of drops formed by circular jet breakupJournal of Electrostatics, 1992
- Generation of controllable monodispersed sprays using impulse jet and charging techniquesReview of Scientific Instruments, 1990
- Research on electrostatic hazards associated with tank washing in very large crude carriers (supertankers) II. Study of the charging mechanism during the production of water aerosolsJournal of Electrostatics, 1975
- Uniform Charged Solid Particle ProductionReview of Scientific Instruments, 1968