Usage of aerosol mass spectrometry for the measurement of the physical and chemical properties of the atmospheric nanoparticles

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Κωστενίδου, Ευαγγελία
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Πάνδης, Σπυρίδων
• Μορφή: Thesis
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2010
• Θέματα: Air pollution; Atmospheric aerosols; Aerosol mass spectrometry; Organic aerosol density; Secondary organic aerosols; Field measurements; Volatility distribution; Steam-jet aerosol collector; Ατμοσφαιρική ρύπανση; Ατμοσφαιρικά σωματίδια; Φασματομετρία μάζας αεροζόλ; Πυκνότητα οργανικών αεροζόλ; Δευτερογενή οργανικά σωματίδια; Μετρήσεις πεδίου; Κατανομή πτητικότητας; Δειγματοληψία υγροποιημένων σωματιδίων; 660.294 515

The Aerosol Mass Spectroscopy (AMS) is a recently developed method that provides on-line measurements of the chemical composition, mass spectrum and mass distributions of the atmospheric aerosol. Using the AMS with a thermodenuder in smog chamber experiments of ozonolysis of α-pinene, β-pinene and limonene, the mass spectrum of the secondary organic aerosols (SOA) is deconvoluted in low, medium and high volatility mass spectra. The spectrum of the surrogate component with the lower volatility for α-pinene and β-pinene is quite similar to that of ambient oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). This could explain part of the difference between the AMS mass spectrum in the lab and the field. Combining an AMS and a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) in smog chamber experiments of α-pinene, β-pinene and limonene ozonolysis, the density of the SOA is calculated and estimated between 1.4 and 1.65 g cm-3. This high density implies that the SOA is likely in a solid or a waxy state. The method is applied on field measurements at Finokalia, Crete during the FAME. For the summer campaign (FAME-08) the organic density is in the range of 0.8 and 1.8 g cm-3 with a mean value of 1.35±0.22 g cm-3¬, while for the winter (FAME-09) the average organic density is 1.14±0.36 g cm-3. This technique can also calculate the Collection Efficiency (CE) of the AMS, since AMS does not measure all the particles that enter the instrument. Applying the estimated CE, the AMS is in a good agreement with other instrumentation. The CE and the organic density of the thermodenuded samples are calculated as well. The CE and the organic density both for the ambient and the themodenuded samples are used as post corrections in the volatility estimation. For FAME-08 the organic aerosol is one order of magnitude less volatile than laboratory-generated α-pinene SOA. Furthermore they are highly oxidized due to the photochemistry conditions (especially in the summer) and the station location (away from detectable sources of pollution). Finally, modifying the steam-jet aerosol collector (SJAC) method both particulate and gas phase of the main inorganic species can be measured. Testing the approach at ambient conditions at the ICE-FORTH Institute, we were able to measure together with the inorganic aerosol composition the gas-phase concentrations of NH3, HONO and very low HNO¬3. The results are consistent with the predictions of the thermodynamic model ISORROPIA.