Search for: All records

Abstract. While camphene is one of the dominant monoterpenesmeasured in biogenic and pyrogenic emission samples, oxidation of camphenehas not been well-studied in environmental chambers and very little is knownabout its potential to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The lack ofchamber-derived SOA data for camphene may lead to significant uncertaintiesin predictions of SOA from oxidation of monoterpenes using existingparameterizations when camphene is a significant contributor to totalmonoterpenes. Therefore, to advance the understanding of camphene oxidationand SOA formation and to improve representation of camphene in air qualitymodels, a series of experiments was performed in the University ofCalifornia Riverside environmental chamber to explore camphene SOA massyields and properties across a range of chemical conditions atatmospherically relevant OH concentrations. The experimental results werecompared with modeling simulations obtained using two chemically detailedbox models: Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC) and Generatorfor Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere (GECKO-A).SOA parameterizations were derived from the chamber data using both thetwo-product and volatility basis set (VBS) approaches. Experiments performedwith added nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulted in higher SOA mass yields (upto 64 %) than experiments performed without added NOx (up to 28 %).In addition, camphene SOA mass yields increased with SOA mass (Mo) atlower mass loadings, but amore »threshold was reached at higher mass loadings inwhich the SOA mass yields no longer increased with Mo. SAPRC modelingof the chamber studies suggested that the higher SOA mass yields at higherinitial NOx levels were primarily due to higher production of peroxyradicals (RO2) and the generation of highly oxygenated organicmolecules (HOMs) formed through unimolecular RO2 reactions. SAPRCpredicted that in the presence of NOx, camphene RO2 reacts with NOand the resultant RO2 undergoes hydrogen (H)-shift isomerizationreactions; as has been documented previously, such reactions rapidly addoxygen and lead to products with very low volatility (i.e., HOMs). The endproducts formed in the presence of NOx have significantly lowervolatilities, and higher O : C ratios, than those formed by initial campheneRO2 reacting with hydroperoxyl radicals (HO2) or other RO2.Further analysis reveals the existence of an extreme NOx regime, whereinthe SOA mass yield can be suppressed again due to high NO / HO2 ratios.Moreover, particle densities were found to decrease from 1.47 to 1.30 g cm−3 as [HC]0 / [NOx]0 increased and O : C decreased. Theobserved differences in SOA mass yields were largely explained by thegas-phase RO2 chemistry and the competition between RO2+HO2, RO2+ NO, RO2+ RO2, and RO2 autoxidationreactions.« less

Abstract. Camphene, a dominant monoterpene emitted from both biogenic and pyrogenicsources, has been significantly understudied, particularly in regard tosecondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. When camphene represents asignificant fraction of emissions, the lack of model parameterizations forcamphene can result in inadequate representation of gas-phase chemistry andunderprediction of SOA formation. In this work, the first mechanistic study of SOA formation from camphene was performed using the Generator for Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere (GECKO-A). GECKO-A was used to generate gas-phase chemical mechanisms for camphene and two well-studied monoterpenes, α-pinene and limonene, as well as to predict SOAmass formation and composition based on gas/particle partitioning theory. Themodel simulations represented observed trends in published gas-phase reactionpathways and SOA yields well under chamber-relevant photooxidation and darkozonolysis conditions. For photooxidation conditions, 70 % of thesimulated α-pinene oxidation products remained in the gas phasecompared to 50 % for limonene, supporting model predictions andobservations of limonene having higher SOA yields than α-pinene underequivalent conditions. The top 10 simulated particle-phase products in theα-pinene and limonene simulations represented 37 %–50 % ofthe SOA mass formed and 6 %–27 % of the hydrocarbon mass reacted. Tofacilitate comparison of camphene with α-pinene and limonene, modelsimulations were run under idealized atmospheric conditions, wherein thegas-phase oxidantmore »levels were controlled, and peroxy radicals reacted equallywith HO2 and NO. Metrics for comparison included gas-phasereactivity profiles, time-evolution of SOA mass and yields, andphysicochemical property distributions of gas- and particle-phaseproducts. The controlled-reactivity simulations demonstrated that (1)in the early stages of oxidation, camphene is predicted to form very low-volatility products, lower than α-pinene and limonene, which condenseat low mass loadings; and (2) the final simulated SOA yield for camphene(46 %) was relatively high, in between α-pinene (25 %) andlimonene (74 %). A 50 % α-pinene + 50 % limonene mixture was then used as a surrogate to represent SOA formation from camphene; while simulated SOA mass and yield were well represented, the volatility distribution of the particle-phase products was not. To demonstrate the potential importance of including a parameterized representation of SOA formation by camphene in air quality models, SOA mass and yield were predicted for three wildland fire fuels based on measured monoterpene distributions and published SOA parameterizations for α-pinene and limonene. Using the 50/50 surrogate mixture to represent camphene increased predicted SOA mass by 43 %–50 % for black spruce and by 56 %–108 % for Douglas fir. This first detailed modeling study of the gas-phase oxidation of camphene and subsequent SOA formation highlights opportunities for future measurement–model comparisons and lays a foundation for developing chemical mechanisms and SOA parameterizations for camphene that are suitable for air quality modeling.« less