Evaluation of a 2-step thermal method for separating organic and elemental carbon for radiocarbon analysis

Dusek, Ulrike; Monaco, M.; Prokopiou, M.; Gongriep, F.; Hitzenberger, R.; Meijer, Harro A. J.; Röckmann, Thomas

doi:10.5194/amtd-7-131-2014

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 42 publications

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“…The 14 C measurement on the EC fraction is still challenging. Only a few groups worldwide perform such analyses, and there are still open questions concerning the best approach for the EC isolation for 14 C measurements [Zhang et al, 2012;Bernardoni et al, 2013;Dusek et al, 2014]. However, a laboratory intercomparison shows that 14 C results of the OC and TC fraction agree well and are not sensitive to different isolation methods [Szidat et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal cycle of fossil and nonfossil carbon using radiocarbon analyses during CalNex

et al. 2014

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Radiocarbon ( 14 C) analysis is a unique tool to distinguish fossil/nonfossil sources of carbonaceous aerosols. We present 14 C measurements of organic carbon (OC) and total carbon (TC) on highly time resolved filters (3-4 h, typically 12 h or longer have been reported) from 7 days collected during California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex) 2010 in Pasadena. Average nonfossil contributions of 58% ± 15% and 51% ± 15% were found for OC and TC, respectively. Results indicate that nonfossil carbon is a major constituent of the background aerosol, evidenced by its nearly constant concentration (2-3 μgC m À3). Cooking is estimated to contribute at least 25% to nonfossil OC, underlining the importance of urban nonfossil OC sources. In contrast, fossil OC concentrations have prominent and consistent diurnal profiles, with significant afternoon enhancements (~3 μgC m À3 ), following the arrival of the western Los Angeles (LA) basin plume with the sea breeze. A corresponding increase in semivolatile oxygenated OC and organic vehicular emission markers and their photochemical reaction products occurs. This suggests that the increasing OC is mostly from fresh anthropogenic secondary OC (SOC) from mainly fossil precursors formed in the western LA basin plume. We note that in several European cities where the diesel passenger car fraction is higher, SOC is 20% less fossil, despite 2-3 times higher elemental carbon concentrations, suggesting that SOC formation from gasoline emissions most likely dominates over diesel in the LA basin. This would have significant implications for our understanding of the on-road vehicle contribution to ambient aerosols and merits further study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal cycle of fossil and nonfossil carbon using radiocarbon analyses during CalNex

et al. 2014

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Biomass and fossil fuel combustion contributions to elemental carbon across the San Francisco Bay Area

Yoon

Fairley

Barrett

et al. 2018

Atmospheric Environment

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Radiocarbon analysis of elemental and organic carbon in Switzerland during winter-smog episodes from 2008 to 2012 – Part 1: Source apportionment and spatial variability

Zotter¹,

Ciobanu²,

Zhang³

et al. 2014

Preprint

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Abstract. While several studies have investigated winter-time air pollution with a wide range of concentration levels, hardly any results are available for longer time periods covering several winter-smog episodes at various locations; e.g. often only a few weeks from a single winter are investigated. Here, we present source apportionment results of winter-smog episodes from 16 air pollution monitoring stations across Switzerland from five consecutive winters. Radiocarbon (14C) analyses of the elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon fractions, as well as levoglucosan, major water-soluble ionic species and gas-phase pollutant measurements were used to characterize the different sources of PM10. The most important contributions to PM10 during winter-smog episodes in Switzerland were on average the secondary inorganic constituents (sum of nitrate, sulfate and ammonium = 41 ± 15%) followed by organic matter OM (30 ± 12%) and EC (5 ± 2%). The non-fossil fractions of OC (fNF,OC) ranged on average from 69–85% and 80–95 % for stations north and south of the Alps, respectively, showing that traffic contributes on average only up to ~30% to OC. The non-fossil fraction of EC (fNF,EC), entirely attributable to primary biomass burning, was on average 42 ± 13% and 49 ± 15% for north and south of the Alps, respectively. While a high correlation was observed between fossil EC and nitrogen oxides, both primarily emitted by traffic, these species did not significantly correlate with fossil OC (OCF), which seems to suggest that a considerable amount of OCF is secondary, formed from fossil precursors. Elevated fNF,EC and fNF,OC values and the high correlation of the latter with other wood burning markers, including levoglucosan and water soluble potassium (K+) indicate that biomass burning is the major source of carbonaceous aerosols during winter-smog episodes in Switzerland. The inspection of the non-fossil OC and EC levels and the relation with levoglucosan and water-soluble K+ shows different ratios for stations north and south of the Alps, most likely because of differences in burning technologies, for these two regions in Switzerland.

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Evaluation of a 2-step thermal method for separating organic and elemental carbon for radiocarbon analysis

Cited by 3 publications

References 42 publications

Diurnal cycle of fossil and nonfossil carbon using radiocarbon analyses during CalNex

Diurnal cycle of fossil and nonfossil carbon using radiocarbon analyses during CalNex

Biomass and fossil fuel combustion contributions to elemental carbon across the San Francisco Bay Area

Radiocarbon analysis of elemental and organic carbon in Switzerland during winter-smog episodes from 2008 to 2012 – Part 1: Source apportionment and spatial variability

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