Until recently the only sensors available for routine “monitoring” of ultrafine and fine particle concentrations, either by mass, number or surface area, have been research instruments such as CPC’s, SMPS’s, ELPI and MOUDI etc. The Pegasor Particle Sensor (PPS) is the first ultrafine particle sensor that has been specifically designed to operate maintenance free for extended periods as a monitoring system in a wide range of applications. This is not an aerosol science research instrument per se, but is a product of such research designed to be used by epidemiologists, health researchers, environmentalists and engineers.

The patented PPS uses a unique flow-through sensor to dramatically reduce maintenance requirements. Fine and ultrafine particles are pulled through the sensor using an air ejector powered by clean dried air. The particles pass first through a charging zone where air ions produced by a corona device become attached to the surface of the particles. The particles then flow through the sensing element of an electrometer.