Particles of Combustion and Their Sources 2-Day Workshop
Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. McCrone Research Institute, Chicago Event ended
Taught by Ernest (Russ) Crutcher
This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how particles of combustion are identified along with their source. The fuel and the conditions of combustion, such as temperature and oxygen availability, produce telltale optical characteristics on and in these particles. We will examine some of these characteristics produced by wildfires, structure fires, home combustion sources, vehicle emissions, and industrial combustion sources. Participants will then make their own wildfire standards to examine, along with actual environmental samples collected in affected homes exposed to different wildfires. The importance of recognizing the optical properties of opaque particles will be demonstrated as part of the lecture and laboratory exercises. Relatively inexpensive upgrades for polarized light microscopes will be demonstrated for the analysis of opaque particles.
Ernest (Russ) Crutcher has been analyzing environmental particles for more than 50 years. He was lead investigator for the Special Projects Laboratory, Analytical Engineering Group for the Boeing Aerospace Division (1974–2001); a NASA principal investigator for contaminants on the surface of satellites returned from orbit (1989–1993); and a primary investigator on transformer failures for the Electrical Power Research Institute (1998–2005). The EPA selected Crutcher to participate in the Quail Roost Conferences (1980–1981) to identify particle sources in urban environments. Since 1978, he has taught analytical light microscopy and was one of three researchers selected by the EPA to teach the first courses on asbestos identification in construction materials. His other teaching credits include particle identification at Northrup Services of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; optical properties of materials at the Engineering College of the University of Washington; and particle behavior in indoor environments for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the text for which has been downloaded more than 40,000 times. In 1985 and 1987, he was a visiting scholar of environmental particle analysis at Imperial College, London. Crutcher has served on various committees developing standards for the analysis of wildfire residues in homes and has published numerous research on light microscopy, particle identification, and environmental health, including articles for The Microscope journal. He is the owner and principal investigator for Microlab Northwest, LLC, a consulting and analytical laboratory in Redmond, Washington.