Fine Particle Emissions from Selected Soils In An Abrader Cone

Fugitive dust is the most visible evidence of wind erosion. Fugitive dust obscures visibility, pollutes the air, fouls machinery, imperils animal and human health, and carries a disproportionate amount of plant nutrients and trace elements. As part of a laboratory pilot study in preparation for field testing of soil erodibility and dust generation potential at several locations in North America, we have collected surface soil samples from the locations to be tested with our field wind tunnel. These samples have been tested for particle size distribution, dry aggregate stability, calcium carbonate, and organic carbon. We have tested between 0.25 and 0.5 g of these samples in a cone abrader dust generator and measured the dust generated with a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) and with an optical device that integrates the numbers of particles by diameter class at regular intervals. The cumulative dust generation curves fit a power function dependent on the square root of time and the actual generation rates thus decrease with time as fine particles are liberated from the soil samples. Dust generation rates are highly dependent on soil particle size distribution and to a more limited extent by the other parameters investigated.