Development of an In Situ Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography Instrument for Quantifying Atmospheric Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) play a significant role in the formation of secondary organic aerosol, but their atmospheric abundance and chemical composition are poorly understood. We have developed a new system for the thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) that extends its capability to quantitatively speciate SVOCs (semi-volatile TAG) having vapor pressures lower than tetradecane (C14) with hourly time resolution. The key component is a passivated stainless steel fiber filter that quantitatively collects both gas and particle phase organic compounds. A separation between gas and particle phase collection is determined through a difference method by periodically sampling ambient air through a multichannel charcoal denuder that efficiently removes gas-phase compounds. Measurements made with this new instrument will provide constraints on the abundance, chemical composition, and gas-to-particle partitioning of atmospheric SVOCs and provide opportunities to improve our understanding of secondary organic aerosol formation in the atmosphere. Copyright 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research

[1]  A. Goldstein,et al.  Development of an automated high-temperature valveless injection system for online gas chromatography , 2014 .

[2]  A. Goldstein,et al.  Insights into secondary organic aerosol formation mechanisms from measured gas/particle partitioning of specific organic tracer compounds. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[3]  A. Robinson,et al.  Determination of Volatility Distributions of Primary Organic Aerosol Emissions from Internal Combustion Engines Using Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry , 2012 .

[4]  A. Goldstein,et al.  Improved resolution of hydrocarbon structures and constitutional isomers in complex mixtures using gas chromatography-vacuum ultraviolet-mass spectrometry. , 2011, Analytical chemistry.

[5]  A. R. Ravishankara,et al.  Organic Aerosol Formation Downwind from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill , 2011, Science.

[6]  S. Madronich,et al.  Modeling organic aerosols in a megacity: Potential contribution of semi-volatile and intermediate volatility primary organic compounds to secondary organic aerosol formation , 2010 .

[7]  A. Robinson,et al.  Secondary organic aerosol formation from high-NO(x) photo-oxidation of low volatility precursors: n-alkanes. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  M. Rowe,et al.  Performance of a high flow rate, thermally extractable multicapillary denuder for atmospheric semivolatile organic compound concentration measurement. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[9]  A. Goldstein,et al.  In situ measurements of gas/particle-phase transitions for atmospheric semivolatile organic compounds , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[10]  Organic Aerosol Speciation: Intercomparison of Thermal Desorption Aerosol GC/MS (TAG) and Filter-Based Techniques , 2010 .

[11]  Pierre Tulet,et al.  Evaluation of recently-proposed secondary organic aerosol models for a case study in Mexico City , 2009 .

[12]  Spyros N. Pandis,et al.  Evaluation of the volatility basis-set approach for the simulation of organic aerosol formation in the Mexico City metropolitan area , 2009 .

[13]  John H. Seinfeld,et al.  Secondary organic aerosol formation from photooxidation of naphthalene and alkylnaphthalenes: implications for oxidation of intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) , 2009 .

[14]  P. Ziemann,et al.  Effects of molecular structure on aerosol yields from OH radical-initiated reactions of linear, branched, and cyclic alkanes in the presence of NOx. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  Quantification of Hourly Speciated Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Aerosols, Measured by an In-Situ Thermal Desorption Aerosol Gas Chromatograph (TAG) , 2009 .

[16]  Allen L. Robinson,et al.  Effects of gas particle partitioning and aging of primary emissions on urban and regional organic aerosol concentrations , 2008 .

[17]  Jennifer M. Logue,et al.  Laboratory investigation of photochemical oxidation of organic aerosol from wood fires 1: measurement and simulation of organic aerosol evolution , 2008 .

[18]  Allen L. Robinson,et al.  Sources of organic aerosol: Positive matrix factorization of molecular marker data and comparison of results from different source apportionment models , 2007 .

[19]  Allen L Robinson,et al.  Organic aerosol formation from photochemical oxidation of diesel exhaust in a smog chamber. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[20]  D. Cocker,et al.  Effect of ammonia on secondary organic aerosol formation from alpha-pinene ozonolysis in dry and humid conditions. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[21]  Allen L Robinson,et al.  Rethinking Organic Aerosols: Semivolatile Emissions and Photochemical Aging , 2007, Science.

[22]  A. Goldstein,et al.  Known and Unexplored Organic Constituents in the Earth's Atmosphere , 2007 .

[23]  P. Doskey,et al.  Direct thermal desorption of semivolatile organic compounds from diffusion denuders and gas chromatographic analysis for trace concentration measurement. , 2007, Journal of chromatography. A.

[24]  M. Molina,et al.  Secondary organic aerosol formation from anthropogenic air pollution: Rapid and higher than expected , 2006 .

[25]  Allen H. Goldstein,et al.  An In-Situ Instrument for Speciated Organic Composition of Atmospheric Aerosols: Thermal Desorption Aerosol GC/MS-FID (TAG) , 2006 .

[26]  A. Northcross,et al.  Sampling artifact estimates for alkanes, hopanes, and aliphatic carboxylic acids , 2005 .

[27]  Allen L. Robinson,et al.  Positive and Negative Artifacts in Particulate Organic Carbon Measurements with Denuded and Undenuded Sampler Configurations Special Issue of Aerosol Science and Technology on Findings from the Fine Particulate Matter Supersites Program , 2004 .

[28]  J. C. Cabada,et al.  Positive and Negative Artifacts in Particulate Organic Carbon Measurements with Denuded and Undenuded Sampler Configurations Special Issue of Aerosol Science and Technology on Findings from the Fine Particulate Matter Supersites Program , 2004 .

[29]  A. Cecinato,et al.  Determination of phase-distributed PAH in Rome ambient air by denuder/GC-MS method , 2004 .

[30]  F. J. Cox,et al.  Formation of oligomers in secondary organic aerosol. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[31]  G. Hidy,et al.  Effects of Changes in Sulfate, Ammonia, and Nitric Acid on Particulate Nitrate Concentrations in the Southeastern United States , 2003, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[32]  R. Kamens,et al.  Heterogeneous Atmospheric Aerosol Production by Acid-Catalyzed Particle-Phase Reactions , 2002, Science.

[33]  Michael J Kleeman,et al.  Measurement of emissions from air pollution sources. 5. C1-C32 organic compounds from gasoline-powered motor vehicles. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[34]  B. Mader,et al.  Gas/solid partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) to air filters. 3. An analysis of gas adsorption artifacts in measurements of atmospheric SOCs and organic carbon (OC). WHen using teflon membrane filters and quartz fiber filters. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[35]  Barbara J. Turpin,et al.  Measuring and simulating particulate organics in the atmosphere: problems and prospects , 2000 .

[36]  Michael J. Kleeman,et al.  MEASUREMENT OF EMISSIONS FROM AIR POLLUTION SOURCES. 2. C1 THROUGH C30 ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM MEDIUM DUTY DIESEL TRUCKS , 1999 .

[37]  Rene P. Schwarzenbach,et al.  Gas/solid and gas/liquid partitioning of organic compounds: Critical evaluation of the interpretation of equilibrium constants , 1998 .

[38]  Steven J. Eisenreich,et al.  Gas-Particle Partitioning of PCBs and PAHs in the Chicago Urban and Adjacent Coastal Atmosphere: States of Equilibrium , 1998 .

[39]  Cui,et al.  Fine particulate organic material in the Los Angeles Basin-I: assessment of the high-volume Brigham Young University organic sampling system, BIG BOSS , 1998, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[40]  G. Cass,et al.  AIR QUALITY MODEL EVALUATION DATA FOR ORGANICS. 4. C2-C36 NON-AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS , 1997 .

[41]  R. Kamens,et al.  A Large Gas-Phase Stripping Device to Investigate Rates of PAH Evaporation from Airborne Diesel Soot Particles , 1997 .

[42]  J. Storey,et al.  Gas/Solid partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds to model atmospheric solid surfaces as a function of relative humidity. 1. Clean quartz. , 1995, Environmental science & technology.

[43]  J. Daisey,et al.  Direct Determination of the Phase Distributions of Semi-Volatile Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using Annular Denuders , 1995 .

[44]  J. W. Crawford,et al.  A multiple-system, multi-channel diffusion denuder sampler for the determination of fine-particulate organic material in the atmosphere , 1993 .

[45]  R. Hites,et al.  Diffusion denuder for the collection of semivolatile organic compounds , 1992 .

[46]  H. Frank,et al.  Thermal desorption of organic pollutants enriched on activated carbon , 1990 .