International round robin tests on the measurement of carbon in diesel exhaust particulates

Guillemin, M.; Cachier, H.; Chini, C.; Dabill, D.; Dahmann, D.; Diebold, F.; Fischer, Axel; Fricke, H.-H.; Groves, J. A.; Hebisch, R.; Houpillart, M.; Israël, G.W.; Mattenklott, M.; Moldenhauer, W.; Sandino, J. P.; Schlums, C.; Sutter, E.; Tucek, E.

doi:10.1007/s004200050241

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The precision of the results is primary linked to the sample heterogeneity and has been estimated to be in the range of 10%. This method gave comparable results as with various thermo-optical methods for a diesel soot intercomparison (Guillemin et al, 1997) and was in the range of ±1σ for BC and TC for the first stage round robin test for carbon aerosol (e.g. urban aerosols, Schmid et al, 2001).…”

Section: Thermal Methodsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols during the MINOS campaign in Crete, July–August 2001: a multi-analytical approach

et al. 2003

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Abstract. During the major part of the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidant Study (MINOS) campaign (summer 2001, Crete Isl.), the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) air was influenced by long range transport of biomass burning from the northern and western part of the Black Sea. During this campaign, carbonaceous aerosols were collected on quartz filters at a Free Tropospheric (FT) site, and at a MBL site together with size-resolved distribution of aerosols. Three Evolution Gas Analysis (EGA) protocols have been tested in order to better characterize the collected aged biomass burning smoke: A 2-step thermal method (Cachier et al., 1989) and a thermo-optical technique using two different temperature programs. The later temperature programs are those used for IMPROVE (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) and NIOSH 5040 (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health). Artifacts were observed using the NIOSH temperature program and identified as interactions between carbon and dust deposited on the filter matrix at high temperature (T>550 • C) under the pure helium step of the analysis.During the MINOS campaign, Black Carbon (BC) and Organic Carbon (OC) mass concentrations were on average respectively 1.19±0.56 and 3.62±1.08 µgC/m 3 for the IMPROVE temperature program, and 1.09±0.36 and 3.75±1.24 µgC/m 3 for the thermal method. Though these values compare well on average and the agreement between the Total Carbon (TC) measurements sample to sample was excellent (slope=1.00, r 2 =0.93, n=56), important discrepancies were observed in determining BC concentrations from these two methods (average error of 33±22%). BC from the IMPROVE temperature program compared well with nonsea-salt potassium (nss-K) pointing out an optical sensitivity to biomass burning. On the other hand, BC from the thermal method showed a better agreement with non-sea-salt sulfate Correspondence to: J. Sciare (sciare@lsce.saclay.cea.fr) (nss-SO 4 ), considered as a tracer for fossil fuel combustion during the MINOS campaign. The coupling between these two methods for determining BC brings here new insights on the origin of carbonaceous aerosols in a complex mixture of different sources. It brings also to our attention that important deviations in BC levels are observed using three widely used EGA's techniques and most probably none of the EGA tested here are well adapted to fully characterize this aerosol mixture.Spherical, smooth and silico-aluminated fly-ash observed by an Analytical Scanning Electron Microscope (ASEM) confirm the influence of coal combustion on the carbonaceous aerosol load throughout the campaign. A rough calculation based on a BC/nss-SO 4 mass ratio suggests that biomass burning could be responsible for half of the BC concentration recorded during the MINOS campaign.From the plot of BC as a function of TC, two linear correlations were observed corresponding to 2 times series (before and after 12 August). Such good correlations suggest, from a first look, that both BC and OC have similar origin and atmospheric ...

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Section: Thermal Methodsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols during the MINOS campaign in Crete, July–August 2001: a multi-analytical approach

et al. 2003

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“…In one study conducted in 1986 (Countess, 1990), the variation between laboratories measuring BC/OC ratios was 10 to 67%. An intercomparison of thermal techniques among European laboratories reported variations of 8 to 44% (Guillemin et al, 1997). Both studies report improved agreement as sample size increased, with reliably reaching 10% for the largest samples analyzed.…”

Section: Srm 1649a Results Dichromate Oxidationmentioning

confidence: 73%

Radiocarbon measurements of black carbon in aerosols and ocean sediments

Masiello

Druffel

Currie

2002

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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“…Typically, the EC a measurements are highly correlated between methods, but the slopes differ strongly from unity, indicating that the differences are of a systematic nature. While the various thermal-optical and EGA techniques usually agree reasonably well (better than a factor of two discrepancy) for laboratory soot, gasoline and diesel engine emissions, and urban particulates (Countess, 1990;Guillemin et al, 1997;Lim et al, 2003), huge differences (up to factors of six, and occasionally even more) are seen for samples from non-urban areas and biomass burning emissions (Chow et al, 2001;Schmid et al, 2001). But even for the new standard reference materials, RM 8785 (Air Particulate Matter on Filter Media), two different thermal-optical protocols (IMPROVE and STN-NIOSH) yielded unreconciled differences of a factor of 2 (Klouda et al, 2005), so that the material has been issued with two different so-called "information concentration values" (based on the two different protocols) for EC a !…”

Section: Thermochemical Analysis ("Ec")mentioning

confidence: 88%

Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols

Andreae

Gelencsér²

2006

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

1,775

1,033

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Abstract. Although the definition and measurement techniques for atmospheric "black carbon" ("BC") or "elemental carbon'' ("EC") have long been subjects of scientific controversy, the recent discovery of light-absorbing carbon that is not black ("brown carbon, Cbrown") makes it imperative to reassess and redefine the components that make up light-absorbing carbonaceous matter (LAC) in the atmosphere. Evidence for the atmospheric presence of Cbrown comes from (1) spectral aerosol light absorption measurements near specific combustion sources, (2) observations of spectral properties of water extracts of continental aerosol, (3) laboratory studies indicating the formation of light-absorbing organic matter in the atmosphere, and (4) indirectly from the chemical analogy of aerosol species to colored natural humic substances. We show that brown carbon may severely bias measurements of "BC" and "EC" over vast parts of the troposphere, especially those strongly polluted by biomass burning, where the mass concentration of Cbrown is high relative to that of soot carbon. Chemical measurements to determine "EC" are biased by the refractory nature of Cbrown as well as by complex matrix interferences. Optical measurements of "BC" suffer from a number of problems: (1) many of the presently used instruments introduce a substantial bias into the determination of aerosol light absorption, (2) there is no unique conversion factor between light absorption and "EC" or "BC" concentration in ambient aerosols, and (3) the difference in spectral properties between the different types of LAC, as well as the chemical complexity of Cbrown, lead to several conceptual as well as practical complications. We also suggest that due to the sharply increasing absorption of Cbrown towards the UV, single-wavelength light absorption measurements may not be adequate for the assessment of absorption of solar radiation in the troposphere. We discuss the possible consequences of these effects for our understanding of tropospheric processes, including their influence on UV-irradiance, atmospheric photochemistry and radiative transfer in clouds.

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International round robin tests on the measurement of carbon in diesel exhaust particulates

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols during the MINOS campaign in Crete, July–August 2001: a multi-analytical approach

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols during the MINOS campaign in Crete, July–August 2001: a multi-analytical approach

Radiocarbon measurements of black carbon in aerosols and ocean sediments

Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols

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