scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol formation from evaporated biofuels: comparison to gasoline and correction for vapor wall losses

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1461-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yicong He ◽  
Brandon King ◽  
Matson Pothier ◽  
Liam Lewane ◽  
Ali Akherati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Wall Losses ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation

With an ongoing interest in displacing petroleum-based sources of energy with biofuels, we measure and model the formation and composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from organic compounds present in biofuels.

scholarly journals The role of low volatile organics on secondary organic aerosol formation

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1689-1700 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kokkola ◽  
P. Yli-Pirilä ◽  
M. Vesterinen ◽  
H. Korhonen ◽  
H. Keskinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Wall Losses ◽  
Rapid Formation ◽  
New Particles

Abstract. Large-scale atmospheric models, which typically describe secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation based on chamber experiments, tend to systematically underestimate observed organic aerosol burdens. Since SOA constitutes a significant fraction of atmospheric aerosol, this discrepancy translates into an underestimation of SOA contribution to radiative forcing of atmospheric aerosol. Here we show that the underestimation of SOA yields can be partly explained by wall losses of SOA forming compounds during chamber experiments. We present a chamber experiment where α-pinene and ozone are injected into a Teflon chamber. When these two compounds react, we observe rapid formation and growth of new particles. Theoretical analysis of this formation and growth event indicates rapid formation of oxidized volatile organic compounds (OVOC) of very low volatility in the chamber. If these oxidized organic compounds form in the gas phase, their wall losses will have significant implications on their partitioning between the gas and particle phase. Although these OVOCs of very low volatility contribute to the growth of new particles, their mass will almost completely be depleted to the chamber walls during the experiment, while the depletion of OVOCs of higher volatilities is less efficient. According to our model simulations, the volatilities of OVOC contributing to the new particle formation event can be of the order of 10−5 μg m−3.

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