The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Air control in a Newark city subway station
Author:	Burch, Robert H.
View Online:	njit-etd1977-020 ([7], 59 pages ~ 1.9 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Chemical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Kimmel, Howard S. (Committee chair) Trattner, Richard B. (Committee member) Perna, Angelo J. (Committee member)
Date:	1977-05
Keywords:	Air quality -- Newark (N.J.) Subways -- Newark (N.J.)
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	During the period from June, 1974 to January, 1976, 103 24-hr samples of the air at the Broad Street station of the Newark City Subway were collected by cascade impactor. The size distributions (based on Stoke's equivalent diameters) of the total suspended particulate matter were determined gravimetrically. Samples were also analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry to obtain information on the concentration of iron, manganese, lead, copper, zinc, and cadmium in each size fraction. The geometric mean particulate level was found to be more than twice the Federal Ambient Air Quality Standard and triple that of ambient Newark air sampled nearby. The metal concentrations (with the possible exception of lead) were found to be small fractions of their respective ambient. standards. The iron, manganese, copper, and zinc aerosols had the relatively large diameters (MMD ≈ 3 µ) common to particles produced by grinding processes. Lead and cadmium were found to be sub-micron condensation aerosols. During the last three months of the survey, weekly rush-hr samples were also collected. The geometric mean particulate concentration of these samples was almost double that of the 24-hr samples taken in the corresponding period, with similar ratios being noted for all metals except zinc (which had a very small increase). Therefore, results indicate that almost all of the particulate matter was generated by traffic, both inside and outside of the subway tunnel.