Determination of the condensation accommodation coefficient of sulfuric acid on water-sulfuric acid aerosol

Growth of water-sulfuric acid (H2O-H2SO4) aerosol resulting from condensation was studied as an isolated process in a batch reactor. Simultaneous measurement of aerosol distribution changes and the H2SO4 formation rate allowed the determination of the accommodation coefficient of H2SO4 on H2O- H2SO4 particles. For particles within a size range between 0.05 and 0.5 μm, and for a relative humidity of 50%, the accommodation coefficient was found to be between 0.02 and 0.09 (90% confidence limits). The Fuchs-Sutugin interpolation formula was adopted for describing the condensation process. The Sitarski-Nowakowski formula gave the same result within the particle size-range under study. Computer simulations of the aerosol distribution evolution during condensational growth, making use of a value for α within the experimental range, were performed as an independent test and showed excellent agreement with the experimental data.

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