EVALUATION OF A MODEL FOR THE DETECTION OF AEROSOL-CONTAINING PROTEASE IN REAL-TIME USING CHROMOGENIC SUBSTRATES IN THE SAMPLING FLUID OF ACYCLONE AND A BUBBLER

A model previously developed for predicting the colour change in a liq uid sampler containing a chromogenic substrate was tested for the dete ction of aerosols of the protease enzyme, alcalase. Aerosols were gene rated in a bioaerosol test chamber at 20 degrees C and relative humidi ty of 40%. The detection system responded to changes in alcalase conce ntration in real time. The performance of a high flow rate Aerojet cyc lone was contrasted with that of a low flow rate bubbler. The model wa s tested with both a constant aerosol concentration and also with the sudden release of an aerosol for a short time. It was found that the m odel needed correcting for fluid loss from both samplers. The model pr edicted the performance of the bubbler better than the cyclone. Possib le reasons are discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.