On-line Monitoring of Aerosols & Gasses in Ambient Air

Understanding the effect of air pollution and air composition on the climate as well as on human health is thus of great importance. Air pollution is not only caused by gaseous components but also by aerosols or particulate matter (PM). These fine particles penetrate in the lungs and are detrimental for human health. Health risk of PM is a hot issue worldwide, but it is still not known which components cause the effects. Hence there is a need for more specific and long term data.
In order to increase this understanding, fast and real-time measurements of concentrations of chemical components in ambient air is a necessity.

Air Monitoring with MARGA

In cooperation with the Energy Research Center (ECN) in The Netherlands, Applikon Analytical a few years ago introduced the MARGA system. The system was originally developed by ECN. With the MARGA, gas and aerosol composition can be measured simultaneously and continuously. The analytical part of the instrument consists of two Metrohm IC systems for anion and cation measurements respectively.
Through a size selective inlet (for example to only measure particles smaller than 10 µm) air is drawn into the MARGA system. It enters a Wet Rotating Denuder (WRD) in which the gasses from the air are absorbed into a thin layer of water. From the WRD, solution (with absorbed gasses) is constantly and automatically removed and taken to two IC’s to measure cation and anion concentration once per hour. The water level in the denuder is kept constant by a continuous water flow. From the WRD the air (now without gasses) flow continues into a Steam Jet Aerosol Collector (SJAC) in which aerosols present are collected in water. This solution is then also taken to two IC’s to measure cation and anion concentrations hourly. The whole MARGA systems runs autonomous, generating aerosol and gas concentrations every hour and only requiring user intervention once per week to supply new solutions. The system can thus be operated in the field in remote places easily.
With the high quality IC systems of Metrohm this makes it possible to measure extreme low concenctrations of the components listed below.

For more information visit MARGA