11. Urban tracer dispersion experiments during the second DAPPLE field campaign in London 2004Damien Martin, Catheryn S Price, Iain R White, Graham Nickless, K Fredrik Petersson, Rex E Britter, Alan G Robins, Stephen E Belcher, Janet F Barlow, Marie Neophytou, Samantha J Arnold, Alan S Tomlin, Robert J Smalley, Dudley E. Shallcross, 2010, original scientific article Abstract: As part of the DAPPLE programme two large scale urban tracer experiments using multiple simultaneous releases of cyclic perfluoroalkanes from fixed location point sources was performed. The receptor concentrations along with relevant meteorological parameters measured are compared with a three screening dispersion models in order to best predict the decay of pollution sources with respect to distance. It is shown here that the simple dispersion models tested here can provide a reasonable upper bound estimate of the maximum concentrations measured with an empirical model derived from field observations and wind tunnel studies providing the best estimate. An indoor receptor was also used to assess indoor concentrations and their pertinence to commonly used evacuation procedures.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Dapple, dispersion
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2081; Downloads: 0
 Fulltext (1,69 MB) |
12. Use of reactive tracers to determine ambient OH radical concentrations: Application within the indoor environmentDudley E. Shallcross, Keven C Clemitshaw, Guy C Lloyd-Jones, Graham Nickless, Stephen J Henshaw, Fredrik K Petersson, Maria Paz Muñoz, Damien Martin, Iain R White, 2010, original scientific article Abstract: The hydroxyl radical (OH) plays a key role in determining indoor air quality. However, its highly reactive nature and low concentration indoors impede direct analysis. This paper describes the techniques used to indirectly quantify indoor OH, including the development of a new method based on the instantaneous release of chemical tracers into the air. This method was used to detect ambient OH in two indoor seminar rooms following tracer detection by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GCMS). The results from these tests add to the small number of experiments that have measured indoor OH which are discussed with regard to future directions within air quality research.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Ozone, Indoor air pollution, Indoor ozone, chemical tracers
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2198; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (153,74 KB) |
13. Investigating the use of secondary organic aerosol as seed particles in simulation chamber experimentsJaqueline F Hamilton, M Rami Alfarra, Kevin P Wyche, Martyn W Ward, Alistair C Lewis, Gordon B McFiggans, Nicholas Good, Paul S Monks, Timo Carr, Iain R White, Ruth M Purvis, 2011, original scientific article Abstract: The use of β-caryophyllene secondary organic aerosol particles as seeds for smog chamber simulations has been investigated. A series of experiments were carried out in the Manchester photochemical chamber as part of the Aerosol Coupling in the Earth System (ACES) project to study the effect of seed particles on the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from limonene photo-oxidation. Rather than use a conventional seed aerosol containing ammonium sulfate or diesel particles, a method was developed to use in-situ chamber generated seed particles from β-caryophyllene photo-oxidation, which were then diluted to a desired mass loading (in this case 4-13 μg m-3). Limonene was then introduced into the chamber and oxidised, with the formation of SOA seen as a growth in the size of oxidised organic seed particles from 150 to 325 nm mean diameter. The effect of the partitioning of limonene oxidation products onto the seed aerosol was assessed using aerosol mass spectrometry during the experiment and the percentage of m/z 44, an indicator of degree of oxidation, increased from around 5 to 8 %. The hygroscopicity of the aerosol also changed, with the growth factor for 200 nm particles increasing from less than 1.05 to 1.25 at 90 % RH. The detailed chemical composition of the limonene SOA could be extracted from the complex β-caryophyllene matrix using two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC× GC) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. High resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTICR-MS) was used to determine exact molecular formulae of the seed and the limonene modified aerosol. The average O:C ratio was seen to increase from 0.32 to 0.37 after limonene oxidation products had condensed onto the organic seed.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Aerosol, Aerosol formation, Smog chamber
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 1972; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (1,96 MB) |
14. Increased sensitivity in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry by incorporation of a radio frequency ion funnelAndrew M Ellis, Stephen Mullock, Fraser Reich, Paul S Monks, Iain R White, Robert S Blake, Shane Barber, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: A drift tube capable of simultaneously functioning as an ion funnel is demonstrated in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) for the first time. The ion funnel enables a much higher proportion of ions to exit the drift tube and enter the mass spectrometer than would otherwise be the case. An increase in the detection sensitivity for volatile organic compounds of between 1 and 2 orders of magnitude is delivered, as demonstrated using several compounds. Other aspects of analytical performance explored in this study include the effective E/N (ratio of electric field to number density of the gas) and dynamic range over which the drift tube is operated. The dual-purpose drift tube/ion funnel can be coupled to various types of mass spectrometers to increase the detection sensitivity and may therefore offer considerable benefits in PTR-MS work.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Analytical performance, Detection sensitivity, Drift tube, Dynamic range, Ion funnels, Proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry, Volatile organic compounds
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2122; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (799,47 KB) |
15. Real-time multi-marker measurement of organic compounds in human breath: Towards fingerprinting breathIain R White, Kerry A Willis, Christopher Whyte, Rebecca Cordell, Robert S Blake, Andrew J Wardlaw, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: The prospects for exploiting proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) in medical diagnostics are illustrated through a series of case studies. Measurements of acetone levels in the breath of 68 healthy people are presented along with a longitudinal study of a single person over a period of 1 month. The median acetone concentration across the population was 484 ppbV with a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 1.6, whilst the average GSD during the single subject longtitudinal study was 1.5. An additional case study is presented which highlights the potential of PTR-ToF-MS in pharmacokinetic studies, based upon the analysis of online breath samples of a person following the consumption of ethanol. PTR-ToF-MS comes into its own when information across a wide mass range is required, particularly when such information must be gathered in a short time during a breathing cycle. To illustrate this property, multicomponent breath analysis in a small study of cystic fibrosis patients is detailed, which provides tentative evidence that online PTR-ToF-MS analysis of tidal breath can distinguish between active infection and non-infected patients.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Volatile Organic Compounds, breath, proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, Cystic Fibrosis
Published: 22.07.2019; Views: 2445; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (1,37 MB) |
16. A feasibility study of the use of reactive tracers to determine outdoor daytime OH radical concentrations within the urban environmentIain R White, Damien Martin, K Fredrik Petersson, Stephen J Henshaw, Graham Nickless, Guy C Lloyd-Jones, Kevin C Clemitshaw, Dudley E Shallcross, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: Using a specifically designed chemical tracer to indirectly measure local atmospheric hydroxyl radical (OH) concentrations is a very appealing concept. Such a tracer will provide information on the amount of OH a tracer encounters, as it moves through the urban environment and provide a stringent test of models. However, to date an outdoor experiment such as this has not been conducted. This article discusses the reasons why this is so and examines the feasibility of using tracers to measure integrated urban OH levels over short (≤1km) distances.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: reactive tracers, OH radicals, NO3 radicals, oxidising rate, dispersion, urban
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2200; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (748,36 KB) |
17. Validation of an assay for the determination of levoglucosan and associated monosaccharide anhydrides for the quantification of wood smoke in atmospheric aerosolRebecca L Cordell, Iain R White, Paul S Monks, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: Biomass burning is becoming an increasing contributor to atmospheric particulate matter, and concern is increasing over the detrimental health effects of inhaling such particles. Levoglucosan and related monosaccharide anhydrides (MAs) can be used as tracers of the contribution of wood burning to total particulate matter. An improved gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method to quantify atmospheric levels of MAs has been developed and, for the first-time, fully validated. The method uses an optimised, low-volume methanol extraction, derivitisation by trimethylsilylation and analysis with high-throughput gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Recovery of approximately 90 % for levoglucosan, and 70 % for the isomers galactosan and mannosan, was achieved using spiked blank filters estimates. The method was extensively validated to ensure that the precision of the method over five experimental replicates on five repeat experimental occasions was within 15 % for low, mid and high concentrations and accuracy between 85 and 115 %. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.21 and 1.05 ng m-3 for levoglucosan and galactosan/mannosan, respectively, where the assay satisfied precisions of ≤20 % and accuracies 80-120 %. The limit of detection (LOD) for all analytes was 0.105 ng m. The stability of the MAs, once deposited on aerosol filters, was high over the short term (4 weeks) at room temperature and over longer periods (3 months) when stored at -20 °C. The method was applied to determine atmospheric levels of MAs at an urban background site in Leicester (UK) for a month. Mean concentrations of levoglucosan over the month of May were 21.4±18.3 ng m-3, 7.5±6.1 ng m-3 mannosan and 1.8±1.3 ngm-3 galactosan.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Levoglucosan, Monosaccharide anhydrides, GC–MS, Wood burning
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 1995; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (555,64 KB) |
18. Observations of the release of non-methane hydrocarbons from fractured shaleRoberto Sommariva, Robert S Blake, Robert J Cuss, Rebecca L Cordell, Jon F Harrington, Iain R White, Paul S Monks, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: The organic content of shale has become of commercial interest as a source of hydrocarbons, owing to the development of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). While the main focus is on the extraction of methane, shale also contains significant amounts of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs). We describe the first real-time observations of the release of NMHCs from a fractured shale. Samples from the Bowland-Hodder formation (England) were analyzed under different conditions using mass spectrometry, with the objective of understanding the dynamic process of gas release upon fracturing of the shale. A wide range of NMHCs (alkanes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, and bicyclic hydrocarbons) are released at parts per million or parts per billion level with temperature- and humidity-dependent release rates, which can be rationalized in terms of the physicochemical characteristics of different hydrocarbon classes. Our results indicate that higher energy inputs (i.e., temperatures) significantly increase the amount of NMHCs released from shale, while humidity tends to suppress it; additionally, a large fraction of the gas is released within the first hour after the shale has been fractured. These findings suggest that other hydrocarbons of commercial interest may be extracted from shale and open the possibility to optimize the "fracking" process, improving gas yields and reducing environmental impacts.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Environmental impact, Hydraulic fracturing, Mass spectrometry
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2145; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (2,47 MB) |
19. Metabolite profiling of the ripening of Mangoes Mangifera indica L. cv. ‘Tommy Atkins’ by real-time measurement of volatile organic compoundsPaul S Monks, Andrew J Taylor, Robert S Blake, Iain R White, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: Real-time profiling of mango ripening based on proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometry (PTR–ToF–MS) of small molecular weight volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is demonstrated using headspace measurements of ‘Tommy Atkins’ mangoes. VOC metabolites produced during the ripening process were sampled directly, which enabled simultaneous and rapid detection of a wide range of compounds. Headspace measurements of ‘Keitt’ mangoes were also conducted for comparison. A principle component analysis of the results indicated that several mass channels were not only key to the ripening process but could also be used to distinguish between mango cultivars. The identities of 22 of these channels, tentatively speciated using contemporaneous GC–MS measurements of sorbent tubes, are rationalized through examination of the biochemical pathways that produce volatile flavour components. Results are discussed with relevance to the potential of headspace analysers and electronic noses in future fruit ripening and quality studies.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Mangifera indica, Tommy Atkins, PTR–ToF–MS, VOCs, Ripening, Mango
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2141; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (1,12 MB) |
20. What effect does VOC sampling time have on derived OH reactivity?Hannah Sonderfeld, Iain R White, Iain C A Goodall, James R Hopkins, Alistair C Lewis, Ralf Koppmann, Paul S Monks, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: State-of-the-art techniques allow for rapid measurements of total OH reactivity. Unknown sinks of OH and oxidation processes in the atmosphere have been attributed to what has been termed ĝ€missingĝ€ OH reactivity. Often overlooked are the differences in timescales over which the diverse measurement techniques operate. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) acting as sinks of OH are often measured by gas chromatography (GC) methods which provide low-frequency measurements on a timescale of hours, while sampling times are generally only a few minutes. Here, the effect of the sampling time and thus the contribution of unmeasured VOC variability on OH reactivity is investigated. Measurements of VOC mixing ratios by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) conducted during two field campaigns (ClearfLo and PARADE) in an urban and a semi-rural environment were used to calculate OH reactivity. VOCs were selected to represent variability for different compound classes. Data were averaged over different time intervals to simulate lower time resolutions and were then compared to the mean hourly OH reactivity. The results show deviations in the range of 1 to 25%. The observed impact of VOC variability is found to be greater for the semi-rural site.The selected compounds were scaled by the contribution of their compound class to the total OH reactivity from VOCs based on concurrent gas chromatography measurements conducted during the ClearfLo campaign. Prior to being scaled, the variable signal of aromatic compounds results in larger deviations in OH reactivity for short sampling intervals compared to oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs). However, once scaled with their lower share during the ClearfLo campaign, this effect was reduced. No seasonal effect on the OH reactivity distribution across different VOCs was observed at the urban site.
Found in: osebi
Keywords: Hydroxyl radical, Atmospheric chemistry, Box model
Published: 18.07.2019; Views: 2067; Downloads: 0 |
