Selective detection of aerosol particles using remote particle counter

Ozu, Akira  

A method for the selective detection of aerosol particles consisting of a specified substance has been demonstrated by using laser-induced fluorescence. A remote particle counter developed for the remote monitoring of aerosol particles was applied to visualize laser-induced fluorescence emitted from a specific aerosol particles. It is made of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, a CCD camera equipped with a fast gate shutter, and a personal computer. An optical low-pass filter equipped with the camera can transmit the laser-induced fluorescence and eliminate the backscattered laser light from particles. The method was applied to detect alcohol mist aerosol in which a laser dye is dissolved and asbestos particles suspended in air. This method is expected to be useful for measuring selectively the number of a specific aerosol.