scholarly journals Atmospheric photochemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons: OH budgets during SAPHIR chamber experiments

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 6941-6952 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nehr ◽  
B. Bohn ◽  
H.-P. Dorn ◽  
H. Fuchs ◽  
R. Häseler ◽  
...  

Abstract. Current photochemical models developed to simulate the atmospheric degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons tend to underestimate OH radical concentrations. In order to analyse OH budgets, we performed experiments with benzene, toluene, p-xylene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene in the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR. Experiments were conducted under low-NO conditions (typically 0.1–0.2 ppb) and high-NO conditions (typically 7–8 ppb), and starting concentrations of 6–250 ppb of aromatics, dependent on OH rate constants. For the OH budget analysis a steady-state approach was applied in which OH production and destruction rates (POH and DOH) have to be equal. The POH were determined from measurements of HO2, NO, HONO, and O3 concentrations, considering OH formation by photolysis and recycling from HO2. The DOH were calculated from measurements of the OH concentrations and total OH reactivities. The OH budgets were determined from DOH/POH ratios. The accuracy and reproducibility of the approach were assessed in several experiments using CO as a reference compound where an average ratio DOH/POH = 1.13 ± 0.19 was obtained. In experiments with aromatics, these ratios ranged within 1.1–1.6 under low-NO conditions and 0.9–1.2 under high-NO conditions. The results indicate that OH budgets during photo-oxidation experiments with aromatics are balanced within experimental accuracies. Inclusion of a further, recently proposed OH production via HO2 + RO2 reactions led to improvements under low-NO conditions but the differences were small and insignificant within the experimental errors.

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 5535-5560 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nehr ◽  
B. Bohn ◽  
H.-P. Dorn ◽  
H. Fuchs ◽  
R. Häseler ◽  
...  

Abstract. Current photochemical models developed to simulate the atmospheric degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons tend to underestimate OH radical concentrations. In order to analyse OH budgets, we performed experiments with benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene in the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR. Experiments were conducted under low-NO conditions (typically 0.1–0.2 ppb) and high-NO conditions (typically 7–8 ppb), and starting concentrations of 6–250 ppb of aromatics, dependent on OH rate constants. For the OH budget analysis a steady-state approach was applied where OH production and destruction rates (POH and DOH) have to be equal. The POH were determined from measurements of HO2, NO, HONO, and O3 concentrations, considering OH formation by photolysis and recycling from HO2. The DOH were calculated from measurements of the OH concentrations and total OH reactivities. The OH budgets were determined from DOH / POH ratios. The accuracy and reproducibility of the approach were assessed in several experiments using CO as a reference compound where an average ratio DOH / POH = 1.13 ± 0.19 was obtained. In experiments with aromatics, these ratios ranged within 1.1–1.6 under low-NO conditions and 0.9–1.2 under high-NO conditions. The results indicate that OH budgets during photo-oxidation experiments with aromatics are balanced within experimental accuracies. Inclusion of a further, recently proposed OH production via HO2 + RO2 reactions led to improvements under low-NO conditions but the differences were small and insignificant within the experimental errors.


2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 7881-7915 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Rohrer ◽  
B. Bohn ◽  
T. Brauers ◽  
D. Brüning ◽  
F.-J. Johnen ◽  
...  

Abstract. HONO formation has been proposed as an important OH radical source in simulation chambers for more than two decades. Besides the heterogeneous HONO formation by the dark reaction of NO2 and adsorbed water, a photolytic source has been proposed to explain the elevated reactivity in simulation chamber experiments. However, the mechanism of the photolytic process is not well understood so far. As expected, production of HONO and NOx was also observed inside the new atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR under solar irradiation. This photolytic HONO and NOx formation was studied with a sensitive HONO instrument under reproducible controlled conditions at atmospheric concentrations of other trace gases. It is shown that the photolytic HONO source in the SAPHIR chamber is not caused by NO2 reactions and that it is the only direct NOy source under illuminated conditions. In addition, the photolysis of nitrate which was recently postulated for the observed photolytic HONO formation on snow, ground, and glass surfaces, can be excluded in the chamber. A photolytic HONO source at the surface of the chamber is proposed which is strongly dependent on humidity, on light intensity, and on temperature. An empirical function of the form S(HONO)=a1,2×J(NO2)×(1+(RH/RH0)2)×exp(−T0/T) describes these dependencies and reproduces the observed HONO formation rates to within 10%. It is shown that the photolysis of HONO represents the dominant radical source in the SAPHIR chamber for typical tropospheric O3/H2O concentrations. For these conditions, the HONO concentrations inside SAPHIR are similar to recent observations in ambient air.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 2189-2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Rohrer ◽  
B. Bohn ◽  
T. Brauers ◽  
D. Brüning ◽  
F.-J. Johnen ◽  
...  

Abstract. HONO formation has been proposed as an important OH radical source in simulation chambers for more than two decades. Besides the heterogeneous HONO formation by the dark reaction of NO2 and adsorbed water, a photolytic source has been proposed to explain the elevated reactivity in simulation chamber experiments. However, the mechanism of the photolytic process is not well understood so far. As expected, production of HONO and NOx was also observed inside the new atmospheric simulation chamber SAPHIR under solar irradiation. This photolytic HONO and NOx formation was studied with a sensitive HONO instrument under reproducible controlled conditions at atmospheric concentrations of other trace gases. It is shown that the photolytic HONO source in the SAPHIR chamber is not caused by NO2 reactions and that it is the only direct NOy source under illuminated conditions. In addition, the photolysis of nitrate which was recently postulated for the observed photolytic HONO formation on snow, ground, and glass surfaces, can be excluded in the chamber. A photolytic HONO source at the surface of the chamber is proposed which is strongly dependent on humidity, on light intensity, and on temperature. An empirical function describes these dependencies and reproduces the observed HONO formation rates to within 10%. It is shown that the photolysis of HONO represents the dominant radical source in the SAPHIR chamber for typical tropospheric O3/H2O concentrations. For these conditions, the HONO concentrations inside SAPHIR are similar to recent observations in ambient air.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-120
Author(s):  
Iuliean Vasile Asaftei ◽  
Neculai Catalin Lungu ◽  
Lucian Mihail Birsa ◽  
Ioan Gabriel Sandu ◽  
Laura Gabriela Sarbu ◽  
...  

The conversion of n-heptanes into aromatic hydrocarbons benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX), by the chromatographic pulse method in the temperature range of 673 - 823K was performed over the HZSM-5 and Ag-HZSM-5 zeolites modified by ion exchange with AgNO3 aqueous solutions. The catalysts, HZSM-5 (SiO2/Al2O3 = 33.9), and Ag-HZSM-5 (Ag1-HZSM-5 wt. % Ag1.02, Ag2-HZSM-5 wt. % Ag 1.62; and Ag3-HZSM-5 wt. % Ag 2.05 having different acid strength distribution exhibit a conversion and a yield of aromatics depending on temperature and metal content. The yield of aromatic hydrocarbons BTX appreciably increased by incorporating silver cations Ag+ into HZSM-5.


In the first paper of this series (Burgoyne 1937) the kinetics of the isothermal oxidation above 400° C of several aromatic hydrocarbons was studied. The present communication extends this work to include the phenomena of ignition in the same temperature range, whilst the corresponding reactions below 400° C form the subject of further investigations now in progress. The hydrocarbons at present under consideration are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, n -propylbenzene, o-, m - and p -xylenes and mesitylene.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (18) ◽  
pp. 5441-5444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hikaru Suenaga ◽  
Mariko Mitsuoka ◽  
Yuko Ura ◽  
Takahito Watanabe ◽  
Kensuke Furukawa

ABSTRACT Biphenyl dioxygenase (Bph Dox) catalyzes the initial oxygenation of biphenyl and related compounds. Bph Dox is a multicomponent enzyme in which a large subunit (encoded by the bphA1 gene) is significantly responsible for substrate specificity. By using the process of DNA shuffling of bphA1 of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707 and Burkholderia cepaciaLB400, a number of evolved Bph Dox enzymes were created. Among them, anEscherichia coli clone expressing chimeric Bph Dox exhibited extremely enhanced benzene-, toluene-, and alkylbenzene-degrading abilities. In this evolved BphA1, four amino acids (H255Q, V258I, G268A, and F277Y) were changed from the KF707 enzyme to those of the LB400 enzyme. Subsequent site-directed mutagenesis allowed us to determine the amino acids responsible for the degradation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yat Sing Pang ◽  
Martin Kaminski ◽  
Anna Novelli ◽  
Philip Carlsson ◽  
Ismail-Hakki Acir ◽  
...  

<p>Limonene is the fourth-most abundant monoterpene in the atmosphere, which upon oxidation leads to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and thereby influences climate and air quality.</p><p>In this study, the oxidation of limonene by OH at different atmospherically relevant NO and HO<sub>2</sub> levels (NO: 0.1 – 10 ppb; HO<sub>2</sub>: 20 ppt) was investigated in simulation experiments in the SAPHIR chamber at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The analysis focuses on comparing measured radical concentrations (RO<sub>2</sub>, HO<sub>2</sub>, OH) and OH reactivity (k<sub>OH</sub>) with modeled values calculated using the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) version 3.3.1.</p><p>At high and medium NO concentrations, RO<sub>2</sub> is expected to quickly react with NO. An HO<sub>2</sub> radical is produced during the process that can be converted back to an OH radical by another reaction with NO. Consistently, for experiments conducted at medium NO levels (~0.5 ppb, RO<sub>2</sub> lifetime ~10 s), simulated RO<sub>2</sub>, HO<sub>2</sub>, and OH agree with observations within the measurement uncertainties, if the OH reactivity of oxidation products is correctly described.</p><p>At lower NO concentrations, the regeneration of HO<sub>2</sub> in the RO<sub>2</sub> + NO reaction is slow and the reaction of RO<sub>2</sub> with HO<sub>2</sub> gains importance in forming peroxides. However, simulation results show a large discrepancy between calculated radical concentrations and measurements at low NO levels (<0.1 ppb, RO<sub>2</sub> lifetime ~ 100 s). Simulated RO<sub>2</sub> concentrations are found to be overestimated by a factor of three; simulated HO<sub>2</sub> concentrations are underestimated by 50 %; simulated OH concentrations are underestimated by about 35%, even if k<sub>OH</sub> is correctly described. This suggests that there could be additional RO<sub>2</sub> reaction pathways that regenerate HO<sub>2</sub> and OH radicals become important, but they are not taken into account in the MCM model.</p>


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kaminski ◽  
Hendrik Fuchs ◽  
Ismail-Hakki Acir ◽  
Birger Bohn ◽  
Theo Brauers ◽  
...  

Abstract. Beside isoprene, monoterpenes are the non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOC) with the highest global emission rates. Due to their high reactivity towards OH, monoterpenes can dominate the radical chemistry of the atmosphere in forested areas. In the present study the photochemical degradation mechanism of β-pinene was investigated in the Jülich atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR. The focus of this study is on the OH budget in the degradation process. Therefore the SAPHIR chamber was equipped with instrumentation to measure radicals (OH, HO2, RO2), the total OH reactivity, important OH precursors (O3, HONO, HCHO), the parent VOC beta-pinene, its main oxidation products, acetone and nopinone, and photolysis frequencies. All experiments were carried out under low NOx conditions (≤ 2 ppb) and at atmospheric beta-pinene concentrations (≤ 5 ppb) with and without addition of ozone. For the investigation of the OH budget, the OH production and destruction rates were calculated from measured quantities. Within the limits of accuracy of the instruments, the OH budget was balanced in all β-pinene oxidation experiments. However, even though the OH budget was closed, simulation results from the Master Chemical Mechanism 3.2 showed that the OH production and destruction rates were underestimated by the model. The measured OH and HO2 concentrations were underestimated by up to a factor of two whereas the total OH reactivity was slightly overestimated because of the poor reproduction of the measured nopinone by the model by up to a factor of three. A new, theory-derived first-generation product distribution by Vereecken and Peeters was able to reproduce the measured nopinone time series and the total OH reactivity. Nevertheless the measured OH and HO2 concentrations remained underestimated by the numerical simulations. These observations together with the fact that the measured OH budget was closed suggest the existence of unaccounted sources of HO2.


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