Secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass burning intermediates: phenol and methoxyphenols

Abstract

Abstract. The formation of secondary organic aerosol from oxidation of phenol, guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol), and syringol (2,6-dimethoxyphenol), major components of biomass burning, is described. Photooxidation experiments were conducted in the Caltech laboratory chambers under low-NOx (< 10 ppb) conditions using H2O2 as the OH source. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields (ratio of mass of SOA formed to mass of primary organic reacted) greater than 25% are observed. Aerosol growth is rapid and linear with the primary organic conversion, consistent with the formation of essentially non-volatile products. Gas- and aerosol-phase oxidation products from the guaiacol system provide insight into the chemical mechanisms responsible for SOA formation. Syringol SOA yields are lower than those of phenol and guaiacol, likely due to novel methoxy group chemistry that leads to early fragmentation in the gas-phase photooxidation. Atomic oxygen to carbon (O : C) ratios calculated from high-resolution-time-of-flight Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) measurements of the SOA in all three systems are ~ 0.9, which represent among the highest such ratios achieved in laboratory chamber experiments and are similar to that of aged atmospheric organic aerosol. The global contribution of SOA from intermediate volatility and semivolatile organic compounds has been shown to be substantial (Pye and Seinfeld, 2010). An approach to representing SOA formation from biomass burning emissions in atmospheric models could involve one or more surrogate species for which aerosol formation under well-controlled conditions has been quantified. The present work provides data for such an approach.

Non-methane organic gas emissions from biomass burning: identification, quantification, and emission factors from PTR-ToF during the FIREX 2016 laboratory experiment

“…In this study, the average OH reactivity of furans is 14.2 s −1 (ppm CO) −1 . The SOA yields of many of these compounds are unknown but they are likely important SOA precursors (Yee et al, 2013;Gilman et al, 2015;Hatch et al, 2017;Bruns et al, 2016).…”

Exploring the observational constraints on the simulation of brown carbon

“…A number of studies have explored the formation of SOA in biomass burning plumes. Yee et al (2013) conduct photo-oxidation experiments in their chamber, and find that the formation of SOA from oxidation of phenol, guaiacol, and syringe can be larger than 25 % of the co-emitted biomass burning POA. Ortega et al (2013) investigate the biomass burning smoke from fuels combusted during the FLAME-3 study and find that the net increase in mass due to biomass burning SOA is 42 ± 36 % of the biomass burning POA.…”

Open burning of rice, corn and wheat straws: primary emissions, photochemical aging, and secondary organic aerosol formation

“…In this study, 20 NMOGs which have been used to estimate SOA yields by previous work (Ng et al, 2007;Chan et al, 2009Chan et al, , 2010Hildebrandt et al, 2009;Gómez Alvarez et al, 2009;Shakya and Griffin, 2010;Chhabra et al, 2011;Nakao et al, 2011;Borras and Tortajada-Genaro, 2012;Yee et al, 2013;Lim et al, 2013) were quantified using PTR-TOF-MS, and the applied SOA yields are summarized in Table S2. The mass concentration of SOA ([SOA] predicted , µg m −3 ) formed from these 20 precursors can be estimated using Eq.…”