Patent ID: 8122756

Claim:
A method for dislodging and collecting target particles from a target surface, the method comprising: providing an aerosol mixture including aerosol particles dispersed in a pressurized gas, wherein the aerosol particles include solid aerosol particles; directing said aerosol mixture including solid aerosol particles at said target surface including said target particles, said solid aerosol particles of the aerosol mixture impacting said target particles causing removal of said target particles from said target surface via momentum transfer from the impact of the solid aerosol particles and causing said target particles to be included in a flow of said pressurized gas with said solid aerosol particles, wherein the solid aerosol particles are selected to dislodge the target particles via the momentum transfer from the impact while having a hardness that provides no significant damage to the target surface; providing a suction flow into an orifice into which said flow of said target particles, said solid aerosol particles, and said pressurized gas are directed; and collecting particles entrained in said suction flow, wherein the particles entrained in the suction flow are collected in a collecting medium that is disposed in a position that is at least one of: upstream of said orifice or within said orifice, and wherein said suction flow into the orifice is bounded circumferentially by a spinning vortex.