scholarly journals Laboratory studies of the chemical composition and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and oxidized primary organic aerosol (OPOA)

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 8913-8928 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Lambe ◽  
T. B. Onasch ◽  
P. Massoli ◽  
D. R. Croasdale ◽  
J. P. Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Oxidation Mechanism ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Ccn Activity

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and oxidized primary organic aerosol (OPOA) were produced in laboratory experiments from the oxidation of fourteen precursors representing atmospherically relevant biogenic and anthropogenic sources. The SOA and OPOA particles were generated via controlled exposure of precursors to OH radicals and/or O3 in a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) flow reactor over timescales equivalent to 1–20 days of atmospheric aging. Aerosol mass spectra of SOA and OPOA were measured with an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). The fraction of AMS signal at m/z = 43 and m/z = 44 (f43, f44), the hydrogen-to-carbon (H/C) ratio, and the oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) ratio of the SOA and OPOA were obtained, which are commonly used to characterize the level of oxidation of oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). The results show that PAM-generated SOA and OPOA can reproduce and extend the observed f44–f43 composition beyond that of ambient OOA as measured by an AMS. Van Krevelen diagrams showing H/C ratio as a function of O/C ratio suggest an oxidation mechanism involving formation of carboxylic acids concurrent with fragmentation of carbon-carbon bonds. Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of PAM-generated SOA and OPOA was measured as a function of OH exposure and characterized as a function of O/C ratio. CCN activity of the SOA and OPOA, which was characterized in the form of the hygroscopicity parameter κorg, ranged from 8.4×10−4 to 0.28 over measured O/C ratios ranging from 0.05 to 1.42. This range of κorg and O/C ratio is significantly wider than has been previously obtained. To first order, the κorg-to-O/C relationship is well represented by a linear function of the form κorg = (0.18±0.04) ×O/C + 0.03, suggesting that a simple, semi-empirical parameterization of OOA hygroscopicity and oxidation level can be defined for use in chemistry and climate models.

scholarly journals Laboratory studies of the chemical composition and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and oxidized primary organic aerosol (OPOA)

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 13617-13653 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Lambe ◽  
T. B. Onasch ◽  
P. Massoli ◽  
D. R. Croasdale ◽  
J. P. Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Oxidation Mechanism ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Ccn Activity

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and oxidized primary organic aerosol (OPOA) were produced in laboratory experiments from the oxidation of fourteen precursors representing atmospherically relevant biogenic and anthropogenic sources. The SOA and OPOA particles were generated via controlled exposure of precursors to OH radicals and/or O3 in a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) flow reactor over timescales equivalent to 1–20 days of atmospheric aging. Aerosol mass spectra of SOA and OPOA were measured with an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). The fraction of AMS signal at m/z = 43 and m/z = 44 (f43, f44), the hydrogen-to-carbon (H/C) ratio, and the oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) ratio of the SOA and OPOA were obtained, which are commonly used to characterize the level of oxidation of oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). The results show that PAM-generated SOA and OPOA can reproduce and extend the observed f44–f43 composition beyond that of ambient OOA as measured by an AMS. Van Krevelen diagrams showing H/C ratio as a function of O/C ratio suggest an oxidation mechanism involving formation of carboxylic acids concurrent with fragmentation of carbon-carbon bonds. Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of PAM-generated SOA and OPOA was measured as a function of OH exposure and characterized as a function of O/C ratio. CCN activity of the SOA and OPOA, which was characterized in the form of the hygroscopicity parameter κorg, ranged from 0.003 to 0.28 over measured O/C ratios ranging from 0.05 to 1.42. This range of κorg and O/C ratio is significantly wider that has been previously obtained. To first order, the κorg-to-O/C relationship is well represented by a linear function of the form κorg = (0.17 ± 0.04) × O/C + 0.04, suggesting that a simple, semi-empirical parameterization of OOA hygroscopicity and oxidation level can be defined for use in chemistry and climate models.

scholarly journals Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of aliphatic amine secondary aerosol

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 5959-5967 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Tang ◽  
D. Price ◽  
E. Praske ◽  
D. N. Vu ◽  
K. Purvis-Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydroxyl Radical ◽  
Aliphatic Amine ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Nitrate Radical ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Primary Aliphatic Amine ◽  
Secondary Aerosol ◽  
Ccn Activity

Abstract. Aliphatic amines can form secondary aerosol via oxidation with atmospheric radicals (e.g., hydroxyl radical and nitrate radical). The particle can contain both secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and inorganic salts. The ratio of organic to inorganic materials in the particulate phase influences aerosol hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity. SOA formed from trimethylamine (TMA) and butylamine (BA) reactions with hydroxyl radical (OH) is composed of organic material of low hygroscopicity (single hygroscopicity parameter, κ, ≤ 0.25). Secondary aerosol formed from the tertiary aliphatic amine (TMA) with N2O5 (source of nitrate radical, NO3) contains less volatile compounds than the primary aliphatic amine (BA) aerosol. As relative humidity (RH) increases, inorganic amine salts are formed as a result of acid–base reactions. The CCN activity of the humid TMA–N2O5 aerosol obeys Zdanovskii, Stokes, and Robinson (ZSR) ideal mixing rules. The humid BA + N2O5 aerosol products were found to be very sensitive to the temperature at which the measurements were made within the streamwise continuous-flow thermal gradient CCN counter; κ ranges from 0.4 to 0.7 dependent on the instrument supersaturation (ss) settings. The variance of the measured aerosol κ values indicates that simple ZSR rules cannot be applied to the CCN results from the primary aliphatic amine system. Overall, aliphatic amine aerosol systems' κ ranges within 0.2 < κ < 0.7. This work indicates that aerosols formed via nighttime reactions with amines are likely to produce hygroscopic and volatile aerosol, whereas photochemical reactions with OH produce secondary organic aerosol of lower CCN activity. The contributions of semivolatile secondary organic and inorganic material from aliphatic amines must be considered for accurate hygroscopicity and CCN predictions from aliphatic amine systems.

scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass burning emissions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Y. Lim ◽  
David H. Hagan ◽  
Matthew M. Coggon ◽  
Abigail R. Koss ◽  
Kanako Sekimoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Total Concentration ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Atmospheric Aging ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Photochemical Aging ◽  
Organic Gases

Abstract. Biomass burning is an important source of aerosol and trace gases to the atmosphere, but how these emissions change chemically during their lifetimes is not fully understood. As part of the Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX 2016), we investigated the effect of photochemical aging on biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), with a focus on fuels from the western United States. Emissions were sampled into a small (150 L) environmental chamber and photochemically aged via the addition of ozone and irradiation by 254 nm light. While some fraction of species undergoes photolysis, the vast majority of aging occurs via reaction with OH radicals, with total OH exposures corresponding to the equivalent of up to 10 days of atmospheric oxidation. For all fuels burned, large and rapid changes are seen in the ensemble chemical composition of BBOA, as measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation is seen for all aging experiments and continues to grow with increasing OH exposure, but the magnitude of the SOA formation is highly variable between experiments. This variability can be explained well by a combination of experiment-to-experiment differences in OH exposure and the total concentration of non-methane organic gases (NMOGs) in the chamber before oxidation, measured by PTR-ToF-MS (r2 values from 0.64 to 0.83). From this relationship, we calculate the fraction of carbon from biomass burning NMOGs that is converted to SOA as a function of equivalent atmospheric aging time, with carbon yields ranging from 24 ± 4 % after 6 hours to 56 ± 9 % after 4 days.

scholarly journals Large contribution to secondary organic aerosol from isoprene cloud chemistry

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
pp. eabe2952
Author(s):  
Houssni Lamkaddam ◽  
Josef Dommen ◽  
Ananth Ranjithkumar ◽  
Hamish Gordon ◽  
Günther Wehrle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Cloud Processing

Aerosols still present the largest uncertainty in estimating anthropogenic radiative forcing. Cloud processing is potentially important for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, a major aerosol component: however, laboratory experiments fail to mimic this process under atmospherically relevant conditions. We developed a wetted-wall flow reactor to simulate aqueous-phase processing of isoprene oxidation products (iOP) in cloud droplets. We find that 50 to 70% (in moles) of iOP partition into the aqueous cloud phase, where they rapidly react with OH radicals, producing SOA with a molar yield of 0.45 after cloud droplet evaporation. Integrating our experimental results into a global model, we show that clouds effectively boost the amount of SOA. We conclude that, on a global scale, cloud processing of iOP produces 6.9 Tg of SOA per year or approximately 20% of the total biogenic SOA burden and is the main source of SOA in the mid-troposphere (4 to 6 km).

scholarly journals In situ secondary organic aerosol formation from ambient pine forest air using an oxidation flow reactor

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (21) ◽  
pp. 30409-30471 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. B. Palm ◽  
P. Campuzano-Jost ◽  
A. M. Ortega ◽  
D. A. Day ◽  
L. Kaser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Photochemical Aging

Abstract. Ambient air was oxidized by OH radicals in an oxidation flow reactor (OFR) located in a montane pine forest during the BEACHON-RoMBAS campaign to study biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and aging. High OH concentrations and short residence times allowed for semi-continuous cycling through a large range of OH exposures ranging from hours to weeks of equivalent (eq.) atmospheric aging. A simple model is derived and used to account for the relative time scales of condensation of low volatility organic compounds (LVOCs) onto particles, condensational loss to the walls, and further reaction to produce volatile, non-condensing fragmentation products. More SOA production was observed in the OFR at nighttime (average 4 μg m-3 when LVOC fate corrected) compared to daytime (average 1 μg m-3 when LVOC fate corrected), with maximum formation observed at 0.4–1.5 eq. days of photochemical aging. SOA formation followed a similar diurnal pattern to monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and toluene + p-cymene concentrations, including a substantial increase just after sunrise at 07:00 LT. Higher photochemical aging (> 10 eq. days) led to a decrease in new SOA formation and a loss of preexisting OA due to heterogeneous oxidation followed by fragmentation and volatilization. When comparing two different commonly used methods of OH production in OFRs (OFR185 and OFR254), similar amounts of SOA formation were observed. We recommend the OFR185 mode for future forest studies. Concurrent gas-phase measurements of air after OH oxidation illustrate the decay of primary VOCs, production of small oxidized organic compounds, and net production at lower ages followed by net consumption of terpenoid oxidation products as photochemical age increased. New particle formation was observed in the reactor after oxidation, especially during times when precursor gas concentrations and SOA formation were largest. Approximately 6 times more SOA was formed in the reactor from OH oxidation than could be explained by the VOCs measured in ambient air. Several recently-developed instruments quantified ambient semi- and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (S/IVOCs) that were not detected by a PTR-TOF-MS. An SOA yield of 24–80 % from those compounds can explain the observed SOA, suggesting that these typically unmeasured S/IVOCs play a substantial role in ambient SOA formation. Our results allow ruling out condensation sticking coefficients much lower than 1. Our measurements help clarify the magnitude of SOA formation in forested environments, and demonstrate methods for interpretation of ambient OFR measurements.

Gas-phase kinetics modifies the CCN activity of a biogenic SOA

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 6591-6597
Author(s):  
A. E. Vizenor ◽  
A. A. Asa-Awuku
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Thermodynamic Properties ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Phase Partitioning ◽  
Gas Phase Kinetics ◽  
Ccn Activity

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity and the hygroscopicity of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) depends on the particle size and composition, explicitly, the thermodynamic properties of the aerosol solute and subsequent interactions with water. The gas-to-aerosol phase partitioning is critical for aerosol composition and thus gas-phase vapors and kinetics can play an important role in the CCN activity of SOA.

scholarly journals Secondary inorganic aerosols in Europe: sources and the significant influence of biogenic VOC emissions, especially on ammonium nitrate

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 7757-7773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebnem Aksoyoglu ◽  
Giancarlo Ciarelli ◽  
Imad El-Haddad ◽  
Urs Baltensperger ◽  
André S. H. Prévôt
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Anthropogenic Source ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Air Quality Model ◽  
Inorganic Nitrate ◽  
Inorganic Aerosol

Abstract. Contributions of various anthropogenic sources to the secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) in Europe as well as the role of biogenic emissions on SIA formation were investigated using the three-dimensional regional model CAMx (comprehensive air quality model with extensions). Simulations were carried out for two periods of EMEP field campaigns, February–March 2009 and June 2006, which are representative of cold and warm seasons, respectively. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are known mainly as precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), but their role on inorganic aerosol formation has not attracted much attention so far. In this study, we showed the importance of the chemical reactions of BVOCs and how they affect the oxidant concentrations, leading to significant changes, especially in the formation of ammonium nitrate. A sensitivity test with doubled BVOC emissions in Europe during the warm season showed a large increase in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations (by about a factor of two), while particulate inorganic nitrate concentrations decreased by up to 35 %, leading to a better agreement between the model results and measurements. Sulfate concentrations decreased as well; the change, however, was smaller. The changes in inorganic nitrate and sulfate concentrations occurred at different locations in Europe, indicating the importance of precursor gases and biogenic emission types for the negative correlation between BVOCs and SIA. Further analysis of the data suggested that reactions of the additional terpenes with nitrate radicals at night were responsible for the decline in inorganic nitrate formation, whereas oxidation of BVOCs with OH radicals led to a decrease in sulfate. Source apportionment results suggest that the main anthropogenic source of precursors leading to formation of particulate inorganic nitrate is road transport (SNAP7; see Table 1 for a description of the categories), whereas combustion in energy and transformation industries (SNAP1) was the most important contributor to sulfate particulate mass. Emissions from international shipping were also found to be very important for both nitrate and sulfate formation in Europe. In addition, we also examined contributions from the geographical source regions to SIA concentrations in the most densely populated region of Switzerland, the Swiss Plateau.

scholarly journals Effect of oxidant concentration, exposure time, and seed particles on secondary organic aerosol chemical composition and yield

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 3063-3075 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Lambe ◽  
P. S. Chhabra ◽  
T. B. Onasch ◽  
W. H. Brune ◽  
J. F. Hunter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Short Exposure ◽  
Heterogeneous Oxidation ◽  
Seed Particles ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Environmental Chambers

Abstract. We performed a systematic intercomparison study of the chemistry and yields of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated from OH oxidation of a common set of gas-phase precursors in a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) continuous flow reactor and several environmental chambers. In the flow reactor, SOA precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2.0 × 108 to 2.2 × 1010 molec cm−3 over exposure times of 100 s. In the environmental chambers, precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2 × 106 to 2 × 107 molec cm−3 over exposure times of several hours. The OH concentration in the chamber experiments is close to that found in the atmosphere, but the integrated OH exposure in the flow reactor can simulate atmospheric exposure times of multiple days compared to chamber exposure times of only a day or so. In most cases, for a specific SOA type the most-oxidized chamber SOA and the least-oxidized flow reactor SOA have similar mass spectra, oxygen-to-carbon and hydrogen-to-carbon ratios, and carbon oxidation states at integrated OH exposures between approximately 1 × 1011 and 2 × 1011 molec cm−3 s, or about 1–2 days of equivalent atmospheric oxidation. This observation suggests that in the range of available OH exposure overlap for the flow reactor and chambers, SOA elemental composition as measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer is similar whether the precursor is exposed to low OH concentrations over long exposure times or high OH concentrations over short exposure times. This similarity in turn suggests that both in the flow reactor and in chambers, SOA chemical composition at low OH exposure is governed primarily by gas-phase OH oxidation of the precursors rather than heterogeneous oxidation of the condensed particles. In general, SOA yields measured in the flow reactor are lower than measured in chambers for the range of equivalent OH exposures that can be measured in both the flow reactor and chambers. The influence of sulfate seed particles on isoprene SOA yield measurements was examined in the flow reactor. The studies show that seed particles increase the yield of SOA produced in flow reactors by a factor of 3 to 5 and may also account in part for higher SOA yields obtained in the chambers, where seed particles are routinely used.

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