Apparatus for Light Scattering Studies of Smoke Particles

Published

March 25, 2001

Author(s)

George W. Mulholland, D W. Weinert

Abstract

A facility for measuring the light scattered by smokes as a function of the scattering angle and linear polarization has been developed. By using monosize polystyrene calibration particles and filter collection for gravimeteric measurement, we are able for the first time to measure the differential (angular distribution) scattering cross section per mass of a flame generated smoke particle. This differential mass scattering cross section is a measure of the light scattering strength of a particle in units of area per mass. The light scattering apparatus used in these measurements has provided repeatable results over a dynamic signal range of 3 to 4 orders of magnitude. Uncertainties lie in the range of 10 % to 20 % and are mainly due to the angular averaging of the calibration factor. The method and apparatus developed was then applied to acetylene smoke, which was produced in a consistent and reproducible manner by a co-flow laminar diffusion burner.

Proceedings Title

International Conference on Automatic Fire Detection "AUBE '01", 12th. Proceedings. National Institute of Standards and Technology

Conference Dates

March 25-28, 2001

Conference Location

Gaithersburg, MD

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

fire detection, fire detection systems, particles, light scattering, smoke, aerosols, computation, gravimeters

Citation

Mulholland, G. and Weinert, D. (2001), Apparatus for Light Scattering Studies of Smoke Particles, International Conference on Automatic Fire Detection "AUBE '01", 12th. Proceedings. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916685 (Accessed October 10, 2025)