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Emission of submicron aerosol particles in operating a laser beam printer

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Abstract

Laser beam printers can be substantial sources of submicron particles in the indoor environment. The present work investigated particle emissions from a commercial laser beam printer (LBP), which was one of single component, non-magnetic, non-contact mode type LBPs, in various operating conditions. Size distribution and number concentration of particles were measured by a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). The size distribution of particles generated from the printer was 20–200 nm in equivalent mobility diameter, regardless of the operating condition. When the fuser system was operated by fuser controller without development and the temperature of the heating roller was 190°C, particles were detected and their peak concentration was about 103 particles/cm3. Zero percent coverage white papers and five percent coverage black papers, were used, the peak concentrations were 1.5×105 particles/cm3 and 3.3×105 particles/cm3, respectively. These results suggest that the sources of submicron particle generation were rubber of heating roller, paper, and toner.

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Correspondence to Jungho Hwang.

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Kim, SY., Kim, Y., Byeon, J.H. et al. Emission of submicron aerosol particles in operating a laser beam printer. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 10, 33–36 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-009-0090-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-009-0090-4

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