US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Jerold R Bottiger

Jana S Kesavan

Arthur H Carrieri

Erik S Roese

David J Owens

Kevin C Hung

Deborah R Schepers

Nathan Kesavan

Pascal I Lim

Warren L Gardner

Daniel R VanReenen

Jonathan C Schultz

Michael V Talbard

Paul J DeLuca

William R Sayers

Leslie I Williams

Tiffany A Sutton

Jack Copper

The present invention is directed to a passive outdoor air sampler device with various screen types and materials for efficient collection of air particles. Screens are used as a collection surface for aerosolized particles. The air sampler is suitable for long-term use in different outdoor settings with no power requirements.

Passive outdoor aerosol sampler device

An apparatus for passive sampling of airborne particles such as those found in an aerosol is disclosed. The passive sampler is designed to take advantage of natural air flow to collect airborne particles, such as those contained in an aerosol, for subsequent analysis. The passive sampler increases the sampling efficiency for diffusion and electrostatic collection of particles by using natural airflow or movement to bring particles closer to the deposition surface. Alternately charged electret filters further increase the sampling efficiency.

Passive sampling of airborne particles with the aid of natural air flow

A system and method for generating combustion aerosols from liquid fuel. The system includes a furnace with an inner heating tube having a heating tape wrapped thereabout. Further, the system includes a fuel line extending through an inlet end of the heating tube and into the heating tube, and a means for dripping the liquid fuel onto a plurality of different locations on an inner surface of the heating tube. The system further includes a power supply to power the heating tape to heat the inner heating tube to a temperature which can ignite the liquid fuel dripped onto the inner surface of the inner heating tube whereby there is an immediate combustion to form combustion products. Finally, the system includes an air line connected to the heating tube for directing compressed air through the inner heating tube to mix with the combustion products and transport the formed combustion aerosols out of an outlet end of the inner heating tube.

Combustion aerosol generator system

A collection plate for a cascade impactor is provided that includes: a container; an absorbent layer including a bottom surface and a top surface, the absorbent layer residing within the container, the absorbent layer further including a liquid medium within the absorbent layer; and an impaction membrane placed on the top surface of the absorbent layer, such that the impaction membrane is in fluidic communication with the absorbent layer. The absorbent layer is configured to hydrate the impaction membrane for at least four hours in a temperature of about 78&#xb0; F. at 37% RH. The collection plate may be utilized as a component in a cascade impactor and/or in a method of collecting a biological sample with a cascade impactor.

Modified collection plates for a cascade impactor

An apparatus for deagglomerating and aerosolizing particulate matter such as powders, the apparatus including a rotatable turntable having a plurality of circumferentially spaced wells adapted to contain a powder. A pair of conduits are fluidly connected to the turntable wells so that powder from the wells is inducted and drawn to two nozzles so that the powder is entrained in the gas flow exiting each nozzle. Furthermore, the nozzle outlets are aligned and spaced apart from each other, but positioned to direct their particle entrained gas flow in the opposite and facing direction to one another so that the flow from each nozzle impinges upon the flow from the other nozzle to further air mill and deagglomerate the individual powder particles.

Apparatus for deagglomerating and disseminating powders and particulate matter

An aerosol generator includes a first body having a first end including an exit opening, and an oppositely positioned second end. An open channel second body is substantially positioned inside the first body and extends from the first end to the second end of the first body. An exit opening of the second body is positioned adjacent to the exit opening of the first end of the first body. An insert, which holds material to be aerosolized, is at least partially positioned inside the second body. An inlet opening receives compressed air into the first body. The compressed air flows towards the exit opening of the first end of the first body. The air flow creates a region of low pressure at the exit opening of the second body. The region of low pressure pulls the material out from the second body and aerosolizes the material. The aerosol generator is particularly effective in generating aerosols from small amounts of solid and liquid materials with minimal losses of material.

Aerosol generator and method

An external filter assembly adapted for modifying a suction cleaning device to sample relatively small particles from various surfaces and/or the ambient air, includes a housing having a first open end, a second open end and a throughbore between the first and second open ends, a filter adapted for capturing particles with particle sizes greater than 0.1 micrometer, the filter being mounted on and enclosing the first open end, and means for securely retaining the second open end of the housing on an exhaust port of the suction cleaning device in communication with the housing throughbore.

External filter assembly adapted for modifying a suction cleaning device to perform biological sampling

An apparatus for mixing contents within an enclosed container, which includes a mixing element composed of a magnetically interactive material, which is configured for placement within the enclosed container, a movable member disposed outside of the enclosed container, the movable member being magnetically engageable with the mixing element, a base member for positioning the movable member proximate the enclosed container, and a motor adapted for driving the movable member in a continuous, reciprocating or oscillating motion relative to the enclosed container, wherein the movable member interacts with and urges the mixing element to translate between a first position and a second position within the container, and one of the mixing element or an end portion of the armature is a magnet.

Apparatus for mixing contents enclosed within a container

A system, apparatus, and method of generating Stokes vectors, a Mueller matrix, and polarized scattering from an aerosol aggregate includes providing an incident infrared laser beam; causing the incident infrared laser beam to be polarization-modulated using variable stress/strain birefringence imposed on a ZnSe crystal; defining a Stokes vector associated with the incident infrared laser beam; scattering the incident infrared laser beam from an aggregate aerosol comprising interferents and analyte particles; producing a scattered-beam reactant Stokes vector by causing the scattered incident infrared laser beam to be polarization-modulated; generating a Mueller matrix by taking a transformation of the Stokes vector; and identifying the analyte using the Mueller matrix. The Mueller matrix may comprise M-elements that are functions of a wavelength of the infrared laser beam, backsattering orientation of the infrared laser beam, and a shape and size of the interferents and analyte particles.

Spectrophotopolarimeter sensor and artificial neural network analytics for distant chemical and biological threat detection

A fomite tumbler and method of transferring an agent from a source object to one or more fomites is provided. The tumbler provides reproducible and adjustable experimental determination of agent transfer between objects such as during handling. The inventions provide a unique mechanism for studying the transfer of a biological agent through a public use system such as the United States Postal System.

Fomite tumbler and method of transferring biological material

An optomechanical switching device, a control system, and a graphical user interface for a photopolarimetric lidar standoff detection that employs differential-absorption Mueller matrix spectroscopy. An output train of alternate continuous-wave COlaser beams [ . . . L:L. . . ] is directed onto a suspect chemical-biological (CB) aerosol plume or the land mass it contaminates (S) vis-&#xe0;-vis the OSD, with L[L] tuned on [detuned off] a resonant molecular absorption moiety of CB analyte. Both incident beams and their backscattered radiances from S are polarization-modulated synchronously so as to produce gated temporal voltage waveforms (scattergrams) recorded on a focus at the receiver end of a sensor (lidar) system. All 16 elements of the Mueller matrix (M) of S are measured via digital or analog filtration of constituent frequency components in these running scattergram data streams (phase-sensitive detection). A collective set of normalized elements {} (ratio to M) susceptible to analyte, probed on-then-off its molecular absorption band, form a unique detection domain that is scrutinized; i.e., any mapping onto this domain by incoming lidar data&#x2014;by means of a trained neural network pattern recognition system for instance&#x2014;cues a standoff detection event.

Photopolarimetric lidar dual-beam switching device and mueller matrix standoff detection system and method

An apparatus for remotely sensing and identifying chemical and biological terials comprising an interrogation component having a first and second infrared radiation source providing a predetermined exciting energy and a predetermined referencing energy, a collection component for collecting backscattering radiation, an optical analysis component for converting the collected backscattered radiation into Mueller matrix elements, a filter component for pattern recognition from the Mueller matrix for specific predetermined materials and a comparison component for determining the presence of specific predetermined materials. A method for identifying chemical and biological materials is disclosed.

Infrared Mueller matrix detection and ranging system

A low concentration aerosol generator capable of generating aerosol partis of a known particle size and count is disclosed. The device includes a substantially hollow drying chamber having a first end, a second end, and a gas circulation means for circulating a gas in a flow through the drying chamber via an inlet means and an outlet means. The first end of the drying chamber has an aerosol droplet generator capable of generating aerosol droplets of a predetermined size and which droplets contain a detectable sample within the drying chamber. The second end of the drying chamber includes a delivery tube having a first orifice arranged within the drying chamber for receiving the detectable sample and a second orifice for allowing the detectable sample to exit the drying chamber. The gas circulation means includes means for generating and regulating the flow of the gas through the drying chamber. The invention also includes a method of generating and delivering a sample particle in a low velocity air stream to an analyzing instrument using the aforementioned device.

Growing community of inventors

Aberdeen, MD, United States of America

Jerold R Bottiger