Abstract
A large portion of atmospheric aerosol particles consists of secondary material produced by oxidation reactions. The relative importance of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can increase with improved emission regulations. A relatively simple way to study potential particle formation in the atmosphere is by using oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) which simulate atmospheric ageing. Here we report on the first ambient OFR ageing experiment in Europe, coupled with scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and proton transfer reaction (PTR)-MS measurements. We found that the simulated ageing did not produce any measurable increases in particle mass or number concentrations during the two months of the campaign due to low concentrations of precursors. Losses in the reactor increased with hydroxyl radical (OH) exposure and with increasing difference between ambient and reactor temperatures, indicating fragmentation and evaporation of semivolatile material.
Highlights
Submicron particle mass is often dominated by secondary material formed from atmospheric oxidation of both organic and inorganic precursors [1,2]
Accounting for reactor losses, oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) processing led to net losses (1−COFR /CAmbient ) of 7.5% ± 7.1 (1σ) in scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) volume concentration and 9.8% ± 10.4 (1σ) in aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) mass concentration
We present the first ambient oxidation flow reactor measurements in Europe
Summary
Submicron particle mass is often dominated by secondary material formed from atmospheric oxidation of both organic and inorganic precursors [1,2]. Despite major research advances in the fields of atmospheric organic chemistry and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) during the last decade, knowledge and understanding is far from complete [3,4,5]. Several research groups have employed oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) to study secondary aerosol particle properties. The most common OFR to date is the potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor. OFRs have proved valuable as an alternative or complement to the traditionally used large smog chambers [6,7]. Mobile smog chambers exist [8], they are not portable in the same way as an OFR.
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