AMT Atmospheric Measurement Techniques AMT Atmos. Meas. Tech. 1867-8548 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/amt-2-81-2009 Influence of particle charging on TEOM measurements in the presence of an electrostatic precipitator Meyer N. K. 1 3 Lauber A. 2 Nussbaumer T. 2 Burtscher H. 1 Institute for Aerosol and Sensor Technology, University of Applied Sciences, Windisch, Switzerland Bioenergy Research Group, University of Applied Sciences, Lucerne, Horw, Switzerland now at: Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland 30 03 2009 2 1 81 85 Copyright: © 2009 N. K. Meyer et al. 2009 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/2/81/2009/amt-2-81-2009.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/2/81/2009/amt-2-81-2009.pdf

The efficiency of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for reducing wood combustion emissions was investigated. Real-time measurements were conducted by directly reading the change in frequency of the tapered element in a Thermo Scientific 1400a TEOM. These measurements have been shown to be influenced by the charge on the aerosols reaching the tapered element such that the TEOM overestimates mass concentration. This electrostatic effect was crosschecked with particle mass concentration and particle number concentration measurements where no influence was observed. Placing a radioactive neutraliser prior to the TEOM leads to agreement between observed ESP efficiencies as measured by both the TEOM, mass filters and a CPC.

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