Development of an In Situ Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography Instrument for Quantifying Atmospheric Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: 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
Source: Aerosol Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W1976715521