Development of a method for measuring and visualizing the concentration of aerosol particles using flame photometry

Abstract

It has been pointed out that SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, can cause droplet or droplet nucleus infection by aerosol particles. Therefore, there is a growing need for a method to investigate the behavior of aerosol particles. Currently, it is impossible to visualize aerosol particles and measure their concentration simultaneously. In this study, a method for measuring and visualizing the concentration of aerosol particles by flame photometry was developed. In this method, aerosol consisting of a sodium chloride solution is used as tracers for human-droplet and droplet nuclei, and the amount of sodium in the aerosol particles is determined by the flame color reaction of a burner. Experiments using the developed method showed that the aerosol can be visualized by the flame color reaction and showed the same trend as that of a particle counter, indicating that the amount of aerosol can be measured using this method. This study suggests that this method may be applied to evaluate the effectiveness of aerosol ventilation, propose appropriate ventilation methods, and improve the accuracy of CFD simulations.