A Blog of the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, you already know that we’re deeply invested in air quality — particularly when it comes to the impact of transportation. Whether it’s engine emissions, field measurements, lab studies, or targeted campaigns, we’ve done it all. If you’re new here, you’ve arrived at an exciting time! We’re taking […]
In spring three years ago, in the middle of the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic in Switzerland, we packed up our measurement system (SMARTEMIS) and drove to Zurich Airport to record unique air quality data near the airport area. At this time, aircraft movements had dropped by more than 90% compared to the previous […]
Written by: Jon G. Bell (belj@zhaw.ch) Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene and formaldehyde, are characterised by high vapour pressures and, therefore, can easily adsorb to the surface of airborne soot particles, accumulating at the vapour-solid soot interface, within pores, or between the carbon core turbostratic graphene layers. These VOC-loaded, nanometric particles are extremely […]
We introduced you to the concept of lung deposited surface area (LDSA) and our network of LDSA sensors in a previous post. The idea of monitoring very fine particulate matter (PM) comes from the knowledge that up to 90% of number concentration of ambient PM comprises of particles less than 500 nm of which ultrafine […]
A long-awaited return The previous installment of the TAC conferences, TAC-4, was the best conference I attended during my PhD back in 2015. A perfect combination of topics and social activities in a small Bavarian town away from touristy temptations. Naturally, TAC-5 had been on my radar, and it was initially supposed to follow the […]
Particle emissions of small turbine engines are unknown and unregulated Jet engines for commercial airliners in production now and in the future are certified for particle emissions from a virtual landing and take-off cycle. However, one potentially large group of engines is left out. Small jet engines (<26.7 kN rated thrust), found on business jets, […]
For a few months now, our group and our students have been doing field measurements using Partector 2, a portable particulate matter (PM) sensor from naneos particle solutions gmbh. This very nice portable device utilizing induced currents (Fierz et al, 2014) measures the lung-deposited surface area (LDSA, see e.g. the paper of Sager & Castranova, […]
Of course, COVID-19 also affected us, leading to working from home, interruption of routine aircraft turbine emission measurements at SR Technics, or to additional workload linked to remote teaching activities. On a positive note, COVID-19 offered the unique situation of drastic reductions in road as well as air traffic. At Zurich airport, there were days […]