At the end of the course, the students will: -Students will develop a hands-on project about particulate matter monitoring or measurement. -Develop soft skills related to project report preparation and presentation. -Learn how to deal with an experimental activity, interpret and elaborate data for particle statistics -Learn how to model indoor particulate matter concentration and its control. -Understand the effects of airborne particulates on outdoor and indoor air quality and the basics of aerosol behavior, including diffusion and charging. -Gain fundamental knowledge of the laws governing aerosols' mechanical, optical, and electrical properties. -Learn about state-of-the-art instruments for airborne particles from the micrometer to the nanometer size range. -Understand basic principles to generate, sample, measure, and control airborne particles.

Basic concepts of Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics as obtained in the bachelor's degree program. Basic IT applications: text editor, calculation spreadsheet, and presentation tools.

Students’ project (13h): Use of an Arduino based low-cost PM sensor. Literature review. Analysis of a scientific paper taken as a reference for the student's final report. Working with the Arduino Module and importing data from sensors. Using software tools to import the data and analyze it. Support for assembling and programming the low-cost PM sensor module used for the project. Project Revisions. Project presentation. Laboratory Assignments (13h): • Risk assessment of airborne pathogen transmission. Calculation of PM indoor concentration. Effect of supply airflow rate, air filter efficiency, and internal generation on particulate contamination in the occupied environment. • Calculation of the properties of lognormal distributions using a set of plastic spheres to represent a polydisperse aerosol at a 1000:1 scale. Measuring lognormal distributions with Optical spectrometers, and calibration of the low-cost sensor. Elaboration of PM2.5 and PM10 from optical sensors. • Air filter performance assessment. Measurement of the resistance to airflow as a function of the airflow rate and correction to reference air density. Determination of the filter fractional efficiency values. Calculation of ePMx rating following a PM-based approach. Theory (34h): 1)Fundamentals of Aerosol Science: Basic definitions and applications of aerosol technology; Types of airborne contaminants and their health effects; Air quality standards for outdoor environments; Physical and aerodynamic properties of particles 2)Gas and Particle Dynamics: Gas properties and kinetic theory; mean free path, Knudsen and Reynolds numbers; Newton’s and Stokes’s laws, slip correction, terminal velocity; Concepts of aerodynamic diameter, particle acceleration, and Stokes number 3)Particle Size and Measurement: Particle size distributions; Statistical functions and lognormal models; Moments and their physical meaning Instruments: impactors, aerodynamic sizers 4)Surface Interaction and Resuspension: Adhesion forces: van der Waals, electrostatic, surface tension; Mechanisms of detachment, resuspension, bounce, and reentrainment 5)Diffusion and Deposition: Brownian motion and diffusion (Stokes-Einstein equation); Particle deposition in laminar and turbulent flows 6)Air Filtration: Filter types, materials, and performance metrics; Filtration mechanisms: interception, impaction, diffusion, electrostatic; Most penetrating particle size (MPPS), pressure drop, quality factor; ePMx rating based on PM fractions 7)Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation: Pollution control strategies in enclosed environments; Ventilation systems: components, operation, filter selection Air cleaner positioning and mass balance design principles 8)Bioaerosols: Viable and non-viable bioaerosols: sources, size range, and sampling; Human emission of aerosols; Health risks associated with biological particles; Respiratory tract anatomy and particle deposition zones; Inhalable, thoracic, and respirable fractions; PPE evaluation: respirators, medical masks, community face coverings 10)Atmospheric Aerosols: Natural and human-made sources; Particle modes: nucleation, accumulation, coarse; Ion charging and global environmental impacts 11)Electrical and Optical Properties: Aerosol charging mechanisms and equilibrium charge distribution; Corona discharge and electrostatic precipitators; Light scattering, optical diameter, and Mie theory; Instruments: optical particle counters, photometers 12)Aerosol Instrumentation and Sampling: Measuring techniques: CN counters, mobility analyzers (DMA, SMPS); Electrical mobility diameter Sampling challenges: particle condensation and evaporation

Students will develop a hands-on project about particulate matter monitoring or measurement. Additional information is available with a video at this link: https://youtu.be/OpFWb2JAm84 Other information is also available at: https://aerosoltech.polito.it

Lectures: 34h Laboratory sessions and Classroom exercise: 13h Tutoring session: 6h The course exploits the "learn by doing" approach, using experimental activities to support theoretical lectures and assignments. Laboratory practices will help the student learn the measurement techniques of airborne particles and understand the mechanisms of particle generation, transport, and loss. The students will understand the control technologies of airborne pollutants and learn how to choose among them. The students, in teams, will develop a research project on aerosol technology, focusing on air quality assessment and control. They will produce a technical research report describing their motivation, literature review, methods, and results, and summarize their research with a presentation. If the circumstances allow, the course will include a guided visit to a measuring station or a manufacturing facility. Students will complete three individual assignments, primarily to encourage critical thinking about relevant topics covered in the course. Both the research project and the assignments will contribute to the final grade.

Hinds W.C., Aerosol Technology: Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles, Wiley, 1999. Kulkarni P., Baron P., Willeke K., Aerosol Measurement: Principles, Techniques, and Applications, Wiley, 2011. Seinfeld J.H., Pandis S.N., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - from Air Pollution to Climate Change, Wiley, 2006. Lecture notes.

Lecture slides; Text book; Lab exercises; Video lectures (previous years);

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group project;

The exam consists of an oral presentation of the project and delivering the reports of the 3 homework assignments and the project report, on time. Students will perform a detailed analysis of the abovementioned project and format their report as a formal research article/conference paper. As part of the exam, students will complete a final report (one week in advance before the exam or the date agreed upon before the exam) and present it. That also includes answering questions and clarifying doubts. This part is intended to assess the student's ability to understand and put into practice the knowledge provided by the lectures and the laboratories. Three homework assignments during the course will combine hand calculations, spreadsheet development, and learning the basics of some software packages typically used in the field. The students will complete the homework before the final exam. Course grades will be determined by the total number of points accumulated through the project and the assignments. Each category's maximum total number of points is: - Homework assignments report (in due time): 15/32 points - Project report: 8/32 points - Project presentation and discussion: 9/32 points The students unable or unwilling to perform the project will take an oral exam. For those students, each category's total number of points is: - Oral exam about assignments: 15/30 points - Oral exam about theory: 15/30 points

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.