Biological Aerosol Trigger (BAT) Design
Abstract
In recent history, man-made and natural events have shown us the ever-present need for systems to monitor the troprosphere for contaminates. These contaminants may take either a chemical or biological form, which determines the methods we use to monitor them. Monitoring the troposphere for biological contaminants is of particular interest to the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. Whether man-made or natural, contaminants of a biological origin share a similar constitution; typically the aromatic amino acids tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. All of these proteinaceous compounds autofluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, and this establishes the basis of the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique used to detect biological contaminants. This technique can be employed in either point or remote detection schemes and is a valuable tool for discriminating proteinaceous from nonproteinaceous aerosols. This report describes a breadboard point sensor that was designed and fabricated to detect proteinaceous aerosols. Previous point sensor designs relied on convoluted flow paths to concentrate the aerosols into a solution. Other systems required precise beam alignment to evenly distribute the energy irradiating the detector elements. Our objective was to build a simple system, where beam alignment is not critical and the flow is straight and laminar.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA386478
Entities
People
- Michael S. Desha
Organizations
- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center