Coty N. Jen

Stabilization of sulfuric acid dimers by ammonia, methylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine

This study experimentally explores how ammonia (NH3), methylamine (MA), dimethylamine (DMA), and trimethylamine (TMA) affect the chemical formation mechanisms of electrically neutral clusters that contain two sulfuric acid molecules (dimers). Dimers may also contain undetectable compounds, such as water or bases, that evaporate upon ionization and sampling. Measurements were conducted using a glass flow reactor which contained a steady flow of humidified nitrogen with sulfuric acid concentrations of 107 to 109 cm−3. A known molar flow rate of a basic gas was injected into the flow reactor. The University of Minnesota Cluster Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer was used to measure the resulting sulfuric acid vapor and cluster concentrations. It was found that, for a given concentration of sulfuric acid vapor, the dimer concentration increases with increasing concentration of the basic gas, eventually reaching a plateau. The base concentrations at which the dimer concentrations saturate suggest NH3 < MA < TMA ≲ DMA in forming stabilized sulfuric acid dimers. Two heuristic models for cluster formation by acid-base reactions are developed to interpret the data. The models provide ranges of evaporation rate constants that are consistent with observations and leads to an analytic expression for nucleation rates that is consistent with atmospheric observations.

Sulfuric acid nucleation: An experimental study of the effect of seven bases

Nucleation of particles with sulfuric acid, water, and nitrogeneous bases was studied in a flow reactor. Sulfuric acid and water levels were set by flows over sulfuric acid and water reservoirs, respectively, and the base concentrations were determined from measured permeation rates and flow dilution ratios. Particle number distributions were measured with a nano-differential-mobility-analyzer system. Results indicate that the nucleation capability of NH3, methylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine with sulfuric acid increases from NH3 as the weakest, methylamine next, and dimethylamine and trimethylamine the strongest. Three other bases were studied, and experiments with triethylamine showed that it is less effective than methylamine, and experiments with urea and acetamide showed that their capabilities are much lower than the amines with acetamide having basically no effect. When both NH3 and an amine were present, nucleation was more strongly enhanced than with just the amine present. Comparisons of nucleation rates to predictions and previous experimental work are discussed, and the sulfuric acid-base nucleation rates measured here are extrapolated to atmospheric conditions. The measurements suggest that atmospheric nucleation rates are significantly affected by synergistic interactions between ammonia and amines.

Diamine‐sulfuric acid reactions are a potent source of new particle formation

Atmospheric nucleation from sulfuric acid depends on the concentrations and the stabilizing effect of other trace gases, such as ammonia and amines. Diamines are an understudied class of atmospherically relevant compounds, and we examine how they affect sulfuric acid nucleation in both flow reactor experiments and the atmosphere. The number of particles produced from sulfuric acid and diamines in the flow reactor was equal to or greater than the number formed from monoamines, implying that diamines are more effective nucleating agents. Upper limits of diamine abundance were also monitored during three field campaigns: Lamont, OK (2013); Lewes, DE (2012); and Atlanta, GA (2009). Mixing ratios were measured as high as tens of parts per trillion by volume (GA and OK). Laboratory results suggest that diamines at these levels are important for atmospheric nucleation. Diamines likely participate in atmospheric nucleation and should be considered in nucleation measurements and models.

Toward Reconciling Measurements of Atmospherically Relevant Clusters by Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry and Mobility Classification/Vapor Condensation

Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research

Computational Fluid Dynamics Studies of a Flow Reactor: Free Energies of Clusters of Sulfuric Acid with NH3 or Dimethyl Amine

Computational fluid dynamics simulations of a flow reactor provided 3D spatial distributions of its temperature and flow profiles and abundances of sulfuric acid, nitrogeneous base, and the acid-base clusters formed from them. Clusters were simulated via their kinetic formation and decomposition involving sulfuric acid and base molecules. Temperature and flow profiles and the base and sulfuric acid distributions are characterized and the latter is compared to mass spectrometer measurements. Concentrations of simulated clusters of sulfuric acid with either NH3 or dimethylamine were compared to experimentally measured particle concentrations. Cluster thermodynamics were adjusted to better the agreement between simulated and experimental results. Free energies of acid-base clusters derived here are also compared to recent quantum chemistry calculations. Sensitivities to the thermodynamics were explored with a 2D laminar flow simulation and the abundance of large clusters was most sensitive to the thermodynamics of the smallest cluster, consisting of 1 base and 1 acid. Comparisons of this model to the computational fluid dynamics models provide verification of the implemented cluster chemistry. A box model was used to calculate nucleation rates for the conditions of other experimental work, and to provide predictions of nucleation for typical atmospheric conditions.

New particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines: Comparison of monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine

Amines are bases that originate from both anthropogenic and natural sources, and they are recognized as candidates to participate in atmospheric aerosol particle formation together with sulfuric acid. Monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine (MMA, DMA, and TMA, respectively) have been shown to enhance sulfuric acid-driven particle formation more efficiently than ammonia, but both theory and laboratory experiments suggest that there are differences in their enhancing potentials. However, as quantitative concentrations and thermochemical properties of different amines remain relatively uncertain, and also for computational reasons, the compounds have been treated as a single surrogate amine species in large-scale modeling studies. In this work, the differences and similarities of MMA, DMA, and TMA are studied by simulations of molecular cluster formation from sulfuric acid, water, and each of the three amines. Quantum chemistry-based cluster evaporation rate constants are applied in a cluster population dynamics model to yield cluster concentrations and formation rates at boundary layer conditions. While there are differences, for instance, in the clustering mechanisms and cluster hygroscopicity for the three amines, DMA and TMA can be approximated as a lumped species. Formation of nanometer-sized particles and its dependence on ambient conditions is roughly similar for these two: both efficiently form clusters with sulfuric acid, and cluster formation is rather insensitive to changes in temperature and relative humidity. Particle formation from sulfuric acid and MMA is weaker and significantly more sensitive to ambient conditions. Therefore, merging MMA together with DMA and TMA introduces inaccuracies in sulfuric acid-amine particle formation schemes.

New particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines: comparison of mono-, di-, and trimethylamines

Amines are bases that originate from both anthropogenic and natural sources, and they are recognized as candidates to participate in atmospheric aerosol particle formation together with sulfuric acid. Monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine (MMA, DMA, and TMA, respectively) have been shown to enhance sulfuric acid-driven particle formation more efficiently than ammonia, but both theory and laboratory experiments suggest that there are differences in their enhancing potentials. However, as quantitative concentrations and thermochemical properties of different amines remain relatively uncertain, and also for computational reasons, the compounds have been treated as a single surrogate amine species in large-scale modeling studies. In this work, the differences and similarities of MMA, DMA, and TMA are studied by simulations of molecular cluster formation from sulfuric acid, water, and each of the three amines. Quantum chemistry-based cluster evaporation rate constants are applied in a cluster population dynamics model to yield cluster concentrations and formation rates at boundary layer conditions. While there are differences, for instance, in the clustering mechanisms and cluster hygroscopicity for the three amines, DMA and TMA can be approximated as a lumped species. Formation of nanometer-sized particles and its dependence on ambient conditions is roughly similar for these two: both efficiently form clusters with sulfuric acid, and cluster formation is rather insensitive to changes in temperature and relative humidity. Particle formation from sulfuric acid and MMA is weaker and significantly more sensitive to ambient conditions. Therefore, merging MMA together with DMA and TMA introduces inaccuracies in sulfuric acid-amine particle formation schemes.

Acid-base chemical reaction model for nucleation rates in the polluted atmospheric boundary layer

Measurements of aerosol number distributions down to one molecule have provided information that we’ve used to develop a new approach for modeling atmospheric nucleation rates. Measurements were carried out with the Cluster Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (Cluster CIMS), the scanning mobility spectrometer using a diethylene glycol condensation particle counter as detector (DEG SMPS), and an ambient pressure proton transfer mass spectrometer for ammonia and amines (AmPMS). The model explains nucleation as a result of cluster evolution due to a sequence of acid-base reactions. We conclude that the smallest stable cluster contains four sulfuric acid molecules. The model leads to a simple analytic expression for nucleation rates that is reasonably consistent (i.e., ± 10x) with atmospheric observations. The model predicts that nucleation rates are equal to a prefactor, P<1, times the sulfuric acid vapor collision rate, (i.e., J=P⋅0.5⋅k11 *[H2SO4]2).

Speciated and total emission factors of particulate organics fromburning western U.S. wildland fuels and their dependence oncombustion efficiency

Western US wildlands experience frequent and large-scale wildfires which are predicted to increase in the future. As a result, wildfire smoke emissions are expected to play an increasing role in atmospheric chemistry while negatively impacting regional air quality and human health. Understanding the impacts of smoke on the environment is informed by identifying and quantifying the chemical compounds that are emitted during wildfires and by providing empirical relationships that describe how the amount and composition of the emissions change based upon different fire conditions and fuels. This study examined particulate organic compounds emitted from burning common western US wildland fuels at the US Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory. Thousands of intermediate and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/SVOCs) were separated and quantified into fire-integrated emission factors (EFs) using a thermal desorption, two-dimensional gas chromatograph with online derivatization coupled to an electron ionization/vacuum ultraviolet high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TD-GC×GC-EI/VUV-HRToFMS). Mass spectra, EFs as a function of modified combustion efficiency (MCE), fuel source, and other defining characteristics for the separated compounds are provided in the accompanying mass spectral library. Results show that EFs for total organic carbon (OC), chemical families of I/SVOCs, and most individual I/SVOCs span 2–5 orders of magnitude, with higher EFs at smoldering conditions (low MCE) than flaming. Logarithmic fits applied to the observations showed that log (EFs) for particulate organic compounds were inversely proportional to MCE. These measurements and relationships provide useful estimates of EFs for OC, elemental carbon (EC), organic chemical families, and individual I/SVOCs as a function of fire conditions.

New particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines

Amines are bases that originate from both anthropogenic and natural sources, and they are recognized as candidates to participate in atmospheric aerosol particle formation together with sulfuric acid. Monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine (MMA, DMA, and TMA, respectively) have been shown to enhance sulfuric acid-driven particle formation more efficiently than ammonia, but both theory and laboratory experiments suggest that there are differences in their enhancing potentials. However, as quantitative concentrations and thermochemical properties of different amines remain relatively uncertain, and also for computational reasons, the compounds have been treated as a single surrogate amine species in large-scale modeling studies. In this work, the differences and similarities of MMA, DMA, and TMA are studied by simulations of molecular cluster formation from sulfuric acid, water, and each of the three amines. Quantum chemistry-based cluster evaporation rate constants are applied in a cluster population dynamics model to yield cluster concentrations and formation rates at boundary layer conditions. While there are differences, for instance, in the clustering mechanisms and cluster hygroscopicity for the three amines, DMA and TMA can be approximated as a lumped species. Formation of nanometer-sized particles and its dependence on ambient conditions is roughly similar for these two: both efficiently form clusters with sulfuric acid, and cluster formation is rather insensitive to changes in temperature and relative humidity. Particle formation from sulfuric acid and MMA is weaker and significantly more sensitive to ambient conditions. Therefore, merging MMA together with DMA and TMA introduces inaccuracies in sulfuric acid-amine particle formation schemes.