A Simple Method to Determine the Length Distribution of Fibrous Aerosols.

We present a new method for determining the length distribution of fibrous aerosols based on the theoretical finding that penetration of fibrous particles through a set of wire mesh screens depends only on the ratio between fiber length and the opening size of the mesh. The validity of the method is supported by both Monte Carlo simulation of particle motion through a set of mesh screens and experimental results. When a log-normal distribution is assumed for the fiber length of a fibrous aerosol, this method is capable of indicating a count median length (CML) range of 5-80 mu m using data on penetration through each set of 4 wire mesh screens: 100, 200, 325, 500, 635 mesh and 10 mu m screen. The method is less sensitive for the geometric standard deviation sigma g of fiber length distribution than for CML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]