Condensation Particle Counter (CPC)

Manufacturer: TSI Incorporated Ph# 800-874-2811
Model: 377100
Serial Number: 70827077
UND Major Equipment Property Tag Number: 105667
Aerosol cut size: 10 nanometers (from TSI CPC 3771 manual)

Laptop Software Configuration

RS-232 to USB
No Null Modem
COM Port: 2
Baud Rate:115200

CPC - Model 3772: Starting Data Collection

Make sure all applicable instruments and valves are on and open.
Open Aerosol Instrument Manager (AIM) Desktop Icon
Select File → New
The new filename will have the following format:
- Beginning: Model # of the CPC (ex. CPC3772)
- Middle: YearMonthDay following an underscore (ex. _20201115)
- End: File type '.C72' (relation to the model CPC type)
- Full Example: CPC3772_20201115.C72
Enter the new filename and select Open.
Select the green circle at the top of the interface to begin data collection. Data collection should begin and visualization should commence.

CPC - Model 3771/3772: Data Processing

Note that the time value in the output file is based on the computer system's time, not the acquisition system time. Hence, it is necessary to have the computer system to be on UTC time and not local time.

Copy the *.C72 data files to mounted NAS drive
On a windows machine in lab, open Aerosol Ins Management program.
Select *.C72 data file
Select one sample at a time from the sample list
Select File export
Highlight the following parameters:

     Concentration, Analog Input, Count, Time Stamp, Extension: (*.txt), Comma

Select “Column” check box.
Select Save As for output file.
Name file as <filename>.sample1.txt (and consecutively sample2,3,4…for remaining samples), where filename typically is YY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS format. Where YY is year, MM is Month, DD is Day, HH is Hour, MM is minute, and SS is the second. All of which is for when the data file started. For example, 20_08_13_23_23_33.sample1.txt

Using WinSCP to covert data on nas/ drive

Open WinSCP and login into aircraft.atmos.und.edu
Navigate to converted .txt files on local drive and /nas on aircraft
Once in /nas navigate directories /und/NorthDakota/<year>/Clifford_423/Lab_Data/
If new experiment add another directory with name of experiment followed by date

ex. SLAGEx_20201206

Include CPC data or any other data to be processed and transfer from local to aircraft

Cplot conversion

In Terminal on Linux server computer, use ADPAA script to convert file to NASA/UND text format.

convert_cpc3771tonasa file=<filename>

Use cplot2 to display the data file made with convert_cpc3771tonasa.

CPC Instrument Log

July 24, 2013. Reinstalled in rack #2 after used in lab. The Saturator Wick, o-rings and filters were all replaced. There was a leak before replacement of the Saturator Wisk/O-rings, but no leak afterwards. Also, zero air test (filter on inlet) had zero counts. The Critical Orifice is stored in the Black CPC 3771 case in 425 lab. Pictures of the CPC and location of the critical orifice are on the Department Gallery site. Started using a Alicat Volumetric Flow meter with the CPC. Outlet flow is 1.0 l/min but inlet flow is only 0.75. Assume issue with the the large drop in pressure across the CPC. The Nozzle is like getting plugged. Sent email to TSI asked about getting spare Saturator Wick, o-rings and filters; and what to do about maybe cleaning the nozzle.
October, 2012. Reinstalled in rack #2 after used in lab.
December 10th, 2012. Calibrated the flow on the CPC. 1 lpm was a setting of 0.92 on the flow rate. Altimeter setting at GFK during the test was 29.72. The Citation altimeter set to 29.92 was indicating 1010 ft.

Problems and Solutions

CPC Problems and Solutions

Info on ordering Butanol, company: VWR Ph. # 800-932-5000 ext. 121615 Contact: Sarah. P/N = AA31068-K2, 1 litre bottle - $28.13. UND VWR acct.# = 3990789

Software Commands

All software commands are found in Appendix B of the CPC manual.
Commands are passed to instrument via Hyperterminal program.

rall Displays measured concentration, instrument temperatures, and internal butanol reservoir level.
sstart,2 Displays a continuous 1 Hz stream of 10 Hz counts, concentrations, and dead time corrections.
swar,0/1 Turns the water removal feature either off or on. 0 is off, 1 is on.
sfill,0/1 Turn the automotic butanol fill feature either off or on. 0 is off, 1 is on.

Flow Meter

The critical orifice was removed from the CPC and a FM-380 Mass Flow Meter (SN BW911031) is used measure the flow rate. A Gilian® Gilibrator 2 Volumetric Flow was used to calibrate the flow meter in February 16, 2011 (see file MassFlowMeter_BW9111031_110216.ods). The calibration equation MassFlow[g/min] = 0.4594*volts + 0.0249

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