Methods and apparatus for measuring sidestream smoke

摘要

Methods and apparatus for continuously and instantaneously measuring sidestream smoke are provided. A hood assembly is provided to fit over the ports of a conventional smoking machine. Sidestream smoke produced by test cigarettes is continuously drawn through the hood by an exhaust system. A laser beam is passed through the smoke one or more times before the beam is sensed by a photodiode detector. An electrical signal from the detector, representing the light transmission, is received by a strip recorder or computer system. The transmission measurements are used to calculate the extinction coefficient of the smoke for comparison purposes.