History of ATL

The Aerosol Technology Laboratory is an independent University research laboratory at the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University that was established under the direction of Dr. Andrew R. McFarland and has been serving for over thirty-five years as a center for aerosol research for both private and public sector interests.

A robust engineering and research environment, the Aerosol Technology Laboratory has produced dozens of M.S. and Ph.D. graduates at Texas A&M University, many of whom have gone on to lead research efforts at prestigious research facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Ohio State University.

The Aerosol Technology Laboratory operates from laboratory facilities within at Texas A&M University, as well as a large-scale wind tunnel facility located off the main campus. Capabilities of the Aerosol Technology Laboratory include: Static bench-top testing of aerosol devices with inert monodisperse aerosol (liquid or solid particles with imbedded fluorescent tracer) as well as with non-pathogenic bacteria spores; fluorometric analysis, and imaging of test aerosol particles; culturing of bacteria spores for quantitative analysis; and wind-tunnel testing of aerosol sampling equipment with either inert aerosol particles or non-pathogenic bacteria spores.

Specific accomplishments of past Aerosol Technology Laboratory research include:

• The design and patenting of a Shrouded Probe for representative sampling of aerosols at a constant flow rate and high wind speeds.
• Development of American National Standards Institute Standard 13.1-1999 describing the method and application of single-point representative sampling from stacks and ducts.
• Design of the Generic Mixing Plenum for low power mixing of duct effluent to satisfy single-point representative sampling criteria.
• Design of a Continuous Air Monitor for detection of airborne alpha-emitting particles (Alpha Sentry System, Canberra Industries Inc., Meriden, CT).
• Design of a Continuous PM10 Particulate Monitor for real-time measurement of dust emissions from a corrosive stack environment.
• Design (patented) of a Circumferential Slot Virtual Impactor for low power concentration of aerosols.
• Design (patented) of the Wetted Wall Cyclone (WWC) for low power collection and concentration of bioaerosols and nanoaerosols.