Characteristics in Concentration of Chemical Species in Ambient Air Based on Three-Year Monitoring by Filter Pack Method

2005 ◽  
Vol 161 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 335-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahide Aikawa ◽  
Takatoshi Hiraki ◽  
Motonori Tamaki
2007 ◽  
Vol 1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seon Hye Kim ◽  
Toshihiro Ohshima ◽  
Yusuke Shiratori ◽  
Kohei Itoh ◽  
Kazunari Sasaki

AbstractAmbient air is used as an oxygen source in SOFCs to be commercialized. Various chemical species which can lead to poisoning of SOFC cathodes are included as minor constitutions in air, such as water vapor, SOx, NOx and NaCl etc. However, their effects on the cathode performance have not yet well known, even though they are expected to cause a degradation of the electrode performance and to reduce the long-term durability of SOFCs. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the poisoning caused by water vapor and SOx in the oxygen source to clarify their effects on SOFCs performances and to reveal the degradation mechanism of cathodes. SOFCs with typical electrolyte-supported structure were used in this work, which were composed with ScSZ (10 mol% Sc2O3, 1mol% CeO2, 89 mol% ZrO2) plate with the thickness of 200 µm as electrolyte, NiO-ScSZ (mixture of 56 wt% NiO and 44 wt% ScSZ) porous layer as anode, and two cathode layers of LSM ((La0.8Sr0.2)0.98MnO3) and LSM-ScSZ (mixture of 50 wt% LSM and 50 wt% ScSZ). Power generation characteristics of the cells had been analyzed by measuring cell voltage at a constant current density (200 mA/cm2) and by comparing changes in cell impedance, upon supplying the artificially-contaminated air with water vapor or SOx, to the SOFC cathodes at various operational temperatures. High-resolution FESEM (S-5200, Hitachi) was used to analyze microstructural changes caused by the impurities. Mg Kα radiation from a monochromatized X-ray source was used for XPS measurements (ESCA-3400, KRATOS). AC impedance was measured at various temperatures under the open circuit voltage condition by an impedance analyzer (Solatron 1255B/SI 1287, Solatron), in a frequency range from 0.1 to 105 Hz with an amplitude of 10 mV.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 9767-9813 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Paugam ◽  
M. Wooster ◽  
S. R. Freitas ◽  
M. Val Martin

Abstract. Landscape fires produce smoke containing a very wide variety of chemical species, both gases and aerosols. For larger, more intense fires that produce the greatest amounts of emissions per unit time, the smoke tends initially to be transported vertically or semi-vertically close by the source region, driven by the intense heat and convective energy released by the burning vegetation. The column of hot smoke rapidly entrains cooler ambient air, forming a rising plume within which the fire emissions are transported. This characteristics of this plume, and in particular the height to which it rises before releasing the majority of the smoke burden into the wider atmosphere, are important in terms of how the fire emissions are ultimately transported, since for example winds at different altitudes maybe quite different. This difference in atmospheric transport then may also affect the longevity, chemical conversion and fate of the plumes chemical consituents, with for example very high plume injection heights being associated with extreme long-range atmospheric transport. Here we review how such landscape-scale fire smoke plume injection heights are represented in larger scale atmospheric transport models aiming to represent the impacts of wildfire emissions on component of the Earth system. The use of satellite Earth observation (EO) data is commonly used for this, and detail the EO datasets capable of being used to remotely assess wildfire plume height distributions and the driving characteristics of the causal fires. We also discus both the physical mechanisms and dynamics taking place in fire plumes, and investigate the efficiency and limitations of currently available injection height parameterizations. Finally, we conclude by suggestion some future parameterization developments and ideas on EO data selection that maybe relevant to the instigation of enhanced methodologies aimed at injection height representation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 5639-5658 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. C. Rumsey ◽  
K. A. Cowen ◽  
J. T. Walker ◽  
T. J. Kelly ◽  
E. A. Hanft ◽  
...  

Abstract. Ambient air monitoring as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's (US EPA's) Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet) currently uses filter packs to measure weekly integrated concentrations. The US EPA is interested in supplementing CASTNet with semi-continuous monitoring systems at select sites to characterize atmospheric chemistry and deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds at higher time resolution than the filter pack. The Monitor for AeRosols and GAses in ambient air (MARGA) measures water-soluble gases and aerosols at an hourly temporal resolution. The performance of the MARGA was assessed under the US EPA Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program. The assessment was conducted in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, from 8 September to 8 October 2010 and focused on gaseous SO2, HNO3, and NH3 and aerosol SO42-, NO3-, and NH4+. Precision of the MARGA was evaluated by calculating the median absolute relative percent difference (MARPD) between paired hourly results from duplicate MARGA units (MUs), with a performance goal of ≤ 25%. The accuracy of the MARGA was evaluated by calculating the MARPD for each MU relative to the average of the duplicate denuder/filter pack concentrations, with a performance goal of ≤ 40%. Accuracy was also evaluated by using linear regression, where MU concentrations were plotted against the average of the duplicate denuder/filter pack concentrations. From this, a linear least squares line of best fit was applied. The goal was for the slope of the line of best fit to be between 0.8 and 1.2. The MARGA performed well in comparison to the denuder/filter pack for SO2, SO42−, and NH4+, with all three compounds passing the accuracy and precision goals by a significant margin. The performance of the MARGA in measuring NO3- could not be evaluated due to the different sampling efficiency of coarse NO3- by the MUs and the filter pack. Estimates of "fine" NO3- were calculated for the MUs and the filter pack. Using this and results from a previous study, it is concluded that if the MUs and the filter pack were sampling the same particle size, the MUs would have good agreement in terms of precision and accuracy. The MARGA performed moderately well in measuring HNO3 and NH3, though neither met the linear regression slope goals. However, recommendations for improving the measurement of HNO3 and NH3 are discussed. It is concluded that SO42-, SO2, NO3-, HNO3, NH4+, and NH3 concentrations can be measured with acceptable accuracy and precision when the MARGA is operated in conjunction with the recommendations outlined in the manuscript.


1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (14) ◽  
pp. 2187-2202 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Sickles, II ◽  
L.L. Hodson ◽  
L.M. Vorburger

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1899
Author(s):  
Zuzana Lukacova ◽  
Renata Svubova ◽  
Patricia Selvekova ◽  
Karol Hensel

Plasma activated water (PAW) is a source of various chemical species useful for plant growth, development, and stress response. In the present study, PAW was generated by a transient spark discharge (TS) operated in ambient air and used on maize corns and seedlings in the 3 day paper rolls cultivation followed by 10 day hydroponics cultivation. For 3 day cultivation, two pre-treatments were established, “priming PAW” and “rolls PAW”, with corns imbibed for 6 h in the PAW and then watered daily by fresh water and PAW, respectively. The roots and the shoot were then analyzed for guaiacol peroxidase (G-POX, POX) activity, root tissues for their lignification, and root cell walls for in situ POX activity. To evaluate the potential of PAW in the alleviation abiotic stress, ten randomly selected seedlings were hydroponically cultivated for the following 10 days in 0.5 Hoagland nutrient solutions with and without 150 μM As. The seedlings were then analyzed for POX and catalase (CAT) activities after As treatment, their leaves for photosynthetic pigments concentration, and leaves and roots for As concentration. The PAW improved the growth of the 3 day-old seedlings in terms of the root and the shoot length, while roots revealed accelerated endodermal development. After the following 10 day cultivation, roots from PAW pre-treatment were shorter and thinner but more branched than the control roots. The PAW also enhanced the POX activity immediately after the imbibition and in the 3 day old roots. After 10 day hydroponic cultivation, antioxidant response depended on the PAW pre-treatment. CAT activity was higher in As treatments compared to the corresponding PAW treatments, while POX activity was not obvious, and its elevated activity was found only in the priming PAW treatment. The PAW pre-treatment protected chlorophylls in the following treatments combined with As, while carotenoids increased in treatments despite PAW pre-treatment. Finally, the accumulation of As in the roots was not affected by PAW pre-treatment but increased in the leaves.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian Duan ◽  
Lei Yan ◽  
Guangli Xiu

To comprehensively explore the transport of air pollutants, one-year continuous online observation of PM2.5 was conducted from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 at Dianshan Lake, a suburban junction at the central of Yangtze River Delta. The chemical species of PM2.5 samples mainly focused on Organic carbon (OC), Elemental carbon (EC) and Water-Soluble Inorganic Ions (WSIIs). The annual average of PM2.5 concentration was 59.8 ± 31.7 µg·m−3, 1.7 times higher than the Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Standards (CNAAQS) (35 µg·m−3). SNA (SO42−, NO3− and NH4+) was the most dominated species of PM2.5 total WSIIs, accounting for 51% of PM2.5. PM2.5 and all of its chemical species shared the same seasonal variations with higher concentration in winter and spring, lower in autumn and summer. The higher NO3−/EC and NOR occurred in winter suggested that intensive secondary formation of nitrate contributed to the higher levels of PM2.5. Cluster analysis based on 72-h backward air trajectory showed that the air mass cluster from nearby inland cities, including Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces contributed mostly to the total trajectories. Furtherly, potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis revealed that local sources, namely the emissions in the Yangtze River, were the primary sources. During haze pollution, NO3− was the most important fraction of PM2.5 and the heterogeneous formation of nitrate became conspicuous. All the results suggested that the anthropogenic emissions (such as traffic exhaust) was responsible for the relatively high level of PM2.5 at this monitoring station.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 5065-5104 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Zannoni ◽  
S. Dusanter ◽  
V. Gros ◽  
R. Sarda Esteve ◽  
V. Michoud ◽  
...  

Abstract. The hydroxyl radical (OH) plays a key role in the atmosphere, as it initiates most of the oxidation processes of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and can ultimately lead to the formation of ozone and Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA). There are still uncertainties associated with the OH budget assessed using current models of atmospheric chemistry and direct measurements of OH sources and sinks have proved to be valuable tools to improve our understanding of the OH chemistry. The total first order loss rate of OH, or total OH reactivity, can be directly measured using three different methods, such as: total OH Loss rate Measurement, Laser Induced Pump and Probe Technique and Comparative Reactivity Method. Observations of total OH reactivity are usually coupled to individual measurements of reactive compounds in the gas phase, which are used to calculate the OH reactivity. Studies using the three methods have highlighted that a significant fraction of OH reactivity is often not explained by individually measured reactive compounds and could be associated to unmeasured or unknown chemical species. Therefore accurate and reproducible measurements of OH reactivity are required. The Comparative Reactivity Method (CRM) has demonstrated to be an advantageous technique with an extensive range of applications, and for this reason it has been adopted by several research groups since its development. However, this method also requires careful corrections to derive ambient OH reactivity. Herein we present an intercomparison exercise of two CRM instruments (CRM-LSCE and CRM-MD), conducted during July 2013 at the Mediterranean site of Ersa, Cape Corsica, France. We discuss in detail the experimental approach adopted and how the data sets were processed for both instruments. Corrections required for the two instruments lead to higher values of reactivity in ambient air; overall 20% increase for CRM-MD and 49% for CRM-LSCE compared to the raw data. We show that ambient OH reactivity measured by the two instruments agrees very well (correlation described by a linear least squares fit with a slope of 1 and R2 of 0.75). This study highlights that ambient measurements of OH reactivity with differently configured CRM instruments yield consistent results in a low NOx, terpene rich environment, despite differential corrections relevant to each instrument. Conducting more intercomparison exercises, involving more CRM instruments operated under different ambient and instrumental settings will help in assessing the variability induced due to instrument specific corrections further.


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