scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol formation from gasoline passenger vehicle emissions investigated in a smog chamber

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 31725-31765 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Z. Nordin ◽  
A. C. Eriksson ◽  
P. Roldin ◽  
P. T. Nilsson ◽  
J. E. Carlsson ◽  
...  

Abstract. Gasoline vehicles have elevated emissions of volatile organic compounds during cold starts and idling and have recently been pointed out as potentially the main source of anthropogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in megacities. However, there is a lack of laboratory studies to systematically investigate SOA formation in real-world exhaust. In this study, SOA formation from pure aromatic precursors, idling and cold start gasoline exhaust from one Euro II, one Euro III and one Euro IV passenger vehicles were investigated using photo-oxidation experiments in a 6 m3 smog chamber. The experiments were carried out at atmospherically relevant organic aerosol mass concentrations. The characterization methods included a high resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a proton transfer mass spectrometer. It was found that gasoline exhaust readily forms SOA with a signature aerosol mass spectrum similar to the oxidized organic aerosol that commonly dominates the organic aerosol mass spectra downwind urban areas. After 4 h aging the formed SOA was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the Primary OA emissions. The SOA mass spectrum from a relevant mixture of traditional light aromatic precursors gave f43 (mass fraction at m/z = 4 3) approximately two times higher than to the gasoline SOA. However O : C and H : C ratios were similar for the two cases. Classical C6–C9 light aromatic precursors were responsible for up to 60% of the formed SOA, which is significantly higher than for diesel exhaust. Important candidates for additional precursors are higher order aromatic compounds such as C10, C11 light aromatics, naphthalene and methyl-naphthalenes.

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6101-6116 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Z. Nordin ◽  
A. C. Eriksson ◽  
P. Roldin ◽  
P. T. Nilsson ◽  
J. E. Carlsson ◽  
...  

Abstract. Gasoline vehicles have recently been pointed out as potentially the main source of anthropogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in megacities. However, there is a lack of laboratory studies to systematically investigate SOA formation in real-world exhaust. In this study, SOA formation from pure aromatic precursors, idling and cold start gasoline exhaust from three passenger vehicles (EURO2–EURO4) were investigated with photo-oxidation experiments in a 6 m3 smog chamber. The experiments were carried out down to atmospherically relevant organic aerosol mass concentrations. The characterization instruments included a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a proton transfer mass spectrometer. It was found that gasoline exhaust readily forms SOA with a signature aerosol mass spectrum similar to the oxidized organic aerosol that commonly dominates the organic aerosol mass spectra downwind of urban areas. After a cumulative OH exposure of ~5 × 106 cm−3 h, the formed SOA was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the primary OA emissions. The SOA mass spectrum from a relevant mixture of traditional light aromatic precursors gave f43 (mass fraction at m/z = 43), approximately two times higher than to the gasoline SOA. However O : C and H : C ratios were similar for the two cases. Classical C6–C9 light aromatic precursors were responsible for up to 60% of the formed SOA, which is significantly higher than for diesel exhaust. Important candidates for additional precursors are higher-order aromatic compounds such as C10 and C11 light aromatics, naphthalene and methyl-naphthalenes. We conclude that approaches using only light aromatic precursors give an incomplete picture of the magnitude of SOA formation and the SOA composition from gasoline exhaust.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 16055-16109 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Chirico ◽  
P. F. DeCarlo ◽  
M. F. Heringa ◽  
T. Tritscher ◽  
R. Richter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is a significant source of aerosol in urban areas and has been linked to adverse health effects. Although newer European directives have introduced increasingly stringent standards for primary PM emissions, gaseous organics emitted from diesel cars can still lead to large amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. Here we present results from smog chamber investigations characterizing the primary organic aerosol (POA) and the corresponding SOA formation at atmospherically relevant concentrations for three in-use diesel vehicles with different exhaust aftertreatment systems. One vehicle lacked exhaust aftertreatment devices, one vehicle was equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and the final vehicle used both a DOC and diesel particulate filter (DPF). The experiments presented here were obtained from the vehicles at conditions representative of idle mode, and for one car in addition at a speed of 60 km/h. An Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) was used to measure the organic aerosol (OA) concentration and to obtain information on the chemical composition. For the conditions explored in this paper, primary aerosols from vehicles without a particulate filter consisted mainly of black carbon (BC) with a low fraction of organic matter (OM, OM/BC<0.5), while the subsequent aging by photooxidation resulted in a consistent production of SOA only for the vehicles without a DOC and with a deactivated DOC. After 5 h of aging ~80% of the total organic aerosol was on average secondary and the estimated "emission factor" for SOA was 0.23–0.56 g/kg fuel burned. In presence of both a DOC and a DPF, primary particles with a mobility diameter above 5 nm were 300±19 cm−3, and only 0.01 g SOA per kg fuel burned was produced within 5 h after lights on. The mass spectra indicate that POA was mostly a non-oxidized OA with an oxygen to carbon atomic ratio (O/C) ranging from 0.097 to 0.190. Five hours of oxidation led to a more oxidized OA with an O/C range of 0.208 to 0.369.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 16585-16608 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Erupe ◽  
D. J. Price ◽  
P. J. Silva ◽  
Q. G. J. Malloy ◽  
L. Qi ◽  
...  

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol formation from the reaction of tertiary amines with nitrate radical was investigated in an indoor environmental chamber. Particle chemistry was monitored using a high resolution aerosol mass spectrometer while gas-phase species were detected using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer. Trimethylamine, triethylamine and tributylamine were studied. Results indicate that tributylamine forms the most aerosol mass followed by trimethylamine and triethylamine respectively. Spectra from the aerosol mass spectrometer indicate the formation of complex non-salt aerosol products. We propose a reaction mechanism that proceeds via abstraction of a proton by nitrate radical followed by RO2 chemistry. Rearrangement of the aminyl alkoxy radical through hydrogen shift leads to the formation of hydroxylated amides, which explain most of the higher mass ions in the mass spectra. These experiments show that oxidation of tertiary amines by nitrate radical may be an important night-time source of secondary organic aerosol.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Stefenelli ◽  
Jianhui Jiang ◽  
Amelie Bertrand ◽  
Emily A. Bruns ◽  
Simone M. Pieber ◽  
...  

Abstract. Box model simulations based on the volatility basis set (VBS) approach were used to assess secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors and volatility distributions from residential wood combustion. Emissions were sampled from three different residential stoves at different combustion conditions (flaming vs. smoldering-dominated), aging temperatures (−10 °C, 2 °C and 15 °C), and emission loads, then exposed to hydroxyl (OH) radicals in a smog chamber. Primary emissions of SOA precursor compounds, organic aerosol and their evolution during aging in the smog chamber were monitored by a comprehensive suite of gas and particle instrumentation, including a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) and a high resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS). SOA precursors were classified according to their chemical composition and the identification of the nature of the precursors revealed useful to better constrain model parameters, in particular SOA production rates and molecular characteristics of the condensable gases formed. The general aim of the model was the determination of the parameters describing the volatility distributions of the oxidation products from the different chemical classes considered and their temperature dependence. Novel parameterization methods based on a genetic algorithm (GA) approach allowed estimation of precursor class contributions to SOA and evaluation of the effect of emission variability on SOA yield predictions. Significant differences were observed in the gas-phase composition between smoldering and flaming emissions. Smoldering phase emissions were dominated by oxidized VOCs with less than six carbon atoms family (OVOCc 


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia M. Charan ◽  
Reina S. Buenconsejo ◽  
John H. Seinfeld

Abstract. Recent inventory-based analysis suggests that emissions of volatile chemical products in urban areas are now competitive with those from the transportation sector. Understanding the potential for secondary organic aerosol formation from these volatile chemical products is, therefore, critical to predicting levels of aerosol and for formulating policy to reduce aerosol exposure. It is clear that a plethora of oxygenated compounds are either emitted directly into the atmosphere or emitted indoors and later escape into the outdoors. Experimental and computationally simulated environmental chamber data provide an understanding of aerosol yield and chemistry under relevant urban conditions (5–200 ppb NO and 291–312 K) and give insight into the effect of volatile chemical products on the production of secondary organic aerosol. Benzyl alcohol, one of these volatile chemical products, is found to have a large secondary organic aerosol formation potential. At NO concentrations of ~ 80 ppb and 291 K, secondary organic aerosol mass yields for benzyl alcohol can reach 1.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 11545-11563 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Chirico ◽  
P. F. DeCarlo ◽  
M. F. Heringa ◽  
T. Tritscher ◽  
R. Richter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is a significant source of aerosol in urban areas and has been linked to adverse health effects. Although newer European directives have introduced increasingly stringent standards for primary PM emissions, gaseous organics emitted from diesel cars can still lead to large amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. Here we present results from smog chamber investigations characterizing the primary organic aerosol (POA) and the corresponding SOA formation at atmospherically relevant concentrations for three in-use diesel vehicles with different exhaust aftertreatment systems. One vehicle lacked exhaust aftertreatment devices, one vehicle was equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and the third vehicle used both a DOC and diesel particulate filter (DPF). The experiments presented here were obtained from the vehicles at conditions representative of idle mode, and for one car in addition at a speed of 60 km/h. An Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) was used to measure the organic aerosol (OA) concentration and to obtain information on the chemical composition. For the conditions explored in this paper, primary aerosols from vehicles without a particulate filter consisted mainly of black carbon (BC) with a low fraction of organic matter (OM, OM/BC < 0.5), while the subsequent aging by photooxidation resulted in a consistent production of SOA only for the vehicles without a DOC and with a deactivated DOC. After 5 h of aging ~80% of the total organic aerosol was on average secondary and the estimated "emission factor" for SOA was 0.23–0.56 g/kg fuel burned. In presence of both a DOC and a DPF, only 0.01 g SOA per kg fuel burned was produced within 5 h after lights on. The mass spectra indicate that POA was mostly a non-oxidized OA with an oxygen to carbon atomic ratio (O/C) ranging from 0.10 to 0.19. Five hours of oxidation led to a more oxidized OA with an O/C range of 0.21 to 0.37.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 13167-13190
Author(s):  
Sophia M. Charan ◽  
Reina S. Buenconsejo ◽  
John H. Seinfeld

Abstract. Recent inventory-based analysis suggests that emissions of volatile chemical products in urban areas are competitive with those from the transportation sector. Understanding the potential for secondary organic aerosol formation from these volatile chemical products is therefore critical to predicting levels of aerosol and for formulating policy to reduce aerosol exposure. Experimental and computationally simulated environmental chamber data provide an understanding of aerosol yield and chemistry under relevant urban conditions (5–200 ppb NO and 291–312 K) and give insight into the effect of volatile chemical products on the production of secondary organic aerosol. Benzyl alcohol, one of these volatile chemical products, is found to have a large secondary organic aerosol formation potential. At NO concentrations of ∼ 80 ppb and 291 K, secondary organic aerosol mass yields for benzyl alcohol can reach 1.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Y. Lim ◽  
David H. Hagan ◽  
Matthew M. Coggon ◽  
Abigail R. Koss ◽  
Kanako Sekimoto ◽  
...  

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (20) ◽  
pp. 11807-11833 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Hu ◽  
P. Campuzano-Jost ◽  
B. B. Palm ◽  
D. A. Day ◽  
A. M. Ortega ◽  
...  

Abstract. Substantial amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can be formed from isoprene epoxydiols (IEPOX), which are oxidation products of isoprene mainly under low-NO conditions. Total IEPOX-SOA, which may include SOA formed from other parallel isoprene oxidation pathways, was quantified by applying positive matrix factorization (PMF) to aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements. The IEPOX-SOA fractions of organic aerosol (OA) in multiple field studies across several continents are summarized here and show consistent patterns with the concentration of gas-phase IEPOX simulated by the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model. During the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS), 78 % of PMF-resolved IEPOX-SOA is accounted by the measured IEPOX-SOA molecular tracers (2-methyltetrols, C5-Triols, and IEPOX-derived organosulfate and its dimers), making it the highest level of molecular identification of an ambient SOA component to our knowledge. An enhanced signal at C5H6O+ (m/z 82) is found in PMF-resolved IEPOX-SOA spectra. To investigate the suitability of this ion as a tracer for IEPOX-SOA, we examine fC5H6O (fC5H6O= C5H6O+/OA) across multiple field, chamber, and source data sets. A background of ~ 1.7 ± 0.1 ‰ (‰ = parts per thousand) is observed in studies strongly influenced by urban, biomass-burning, and other anthropogenic primary organic aerosol (POA). Higher background values of 3.1 ± 0.6 ‰ are found in studies strongly influenced by monoterpene emissions. The average laboratory monoterpene SOA value (5.5 ± 2.0 ‰) is 4 times lower than the average for IEPOX-SOA (22 ± 7 ‰), which leaves some room to separate both contributions to OA. Locations strongly influenced by isoprene emissions under low-NO levels had higher fC5H6O (~ 6.5 ± 2.2 ‰ on average) than other sites, consistent with the expected IEPOX-SOA formation in those studies. fC5H6O in IEPOX-SOA is always elevated (12–40 ‰) but varies substantially between locations, which is shown to reflect large variations in its detailed molecular composition. The low fC5H6O (< 3 ‰) reported in non-IEPOX-derived isoprene-SOA from chamber studies indicates that this tracer ion is specifically enhanced from IEPOX-SOA, and is not a tracer for all SOA from isoprene. We introduce a graphical diagnostic to study the presence and aging of IEPOX-SOA as a triangle plot of fCO2 vs. fC5H6O. Finally, we develop a simplified method to estimate ambient IEPOX-SOA mass concentrations, which is shown to perform well compared to the full PMF method. The uncertainty of the tracer method is up to a factor of ~ 2, if the fC5H6O of the local IEPOX-SOA is not available. When only unit mass-resolution data are available, as with the aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM), all methods may perform less well because of increased interferences from other ions at m/z 82. This study clarifies the strengths and limitations of the different AMS methods for detection of IEPOX-SOA and will enable improved characterization of this OA component.


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