References Andersson, K. et al., 1997: TVOC and Health in Non-industrial Indoor Environments. Indoor Air, 7, Apel, E. C. et al., 2003: A fast-GC/MS system to measure C 2 to C 4 carbonyls and methanol aboard aircraft. J. Geophys. Res., 108, Atkinson, R., 2000: Atmospheric chemistry of VOCs and NO x. Atmos. Environ., 34, Devlin, R. B. et al., 1997: Health effects of ozone. Sci. Med., Kelly, T. J. and M. W. Holdren, 1995: Applicability of canisters for sample storage in the determination of hazardous air pollutants. Atmos. Environ., 29, Introduction Chemistry Both anthropogenic and natural sources emit VOCs into the urban atmosphere VOCs react with either nitrite radicals at night or hydroxyl radicals during the day to produce reactive organic peroxy molecules Increased peroxy molecules result in increased production of ozone (Atkinson, 2000) During the evening, NO x chemistry becomes the driver (Warneke et al., 2004) NO + O 3  NO 2 + O 2 NO 2 + O 3  NO 3 + O 2 NO 2 + NO 3 ↔ N 2 O 5 OH + NO  HONO OH + NO 2  HNO 3 Early morning photolysis of HONO results in rapid increase in OH, jumpstarting urban photochemisty Health VOCs have direct adverse affects on human health (Andersson et al., 1997) Production of O 3 by VOCs reaction processes (Devlin et al., 1997) Regulation 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments list 188 VOCs as hazardous air pollutants Currently monitored via Compendium Method TO-15  24-hour collection of ambient samples in SUMA canisters  Analysis of samples at centralized testing facilities  Problem: Some VOCs have appreciable degradation during storage (Kelly and Holdren, 1995) Application of Extractive Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy with Cryogenic Preconcentration: Laboratory Results and Applications Patrick I. Buckley 1, David A. Bowdle 2, Michael J. Newchurch 1 1 Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, 2 Earth System Science Center - Retired Contact info: Patrick I. Buckley NOAA ESRL Global Monitoring Annual Conference, 18 May 2010, Boulder, CO ECIP-FTIR Methodology ECIP-FTIR Objectives Batch Sampling – Four-hour preconcentration at 2 LPM; Detection Limits > 10 pptv Continuous Sampling – 15-minute resolution at 2 LPM; Detection Limits > 10 ppbv Volumetric Flow Rate Figure 3: The ECIP-FTIR Instrument Layout. Panel A shows the entire instrument layout. From left to right, the FTIR, cryocooler, and electronics compartment with operations PC can be seen. Panel B shows the fluid subsystem including flow passages, inlet pumps, and shut off and flow selection valves. Panel C shows the optical subsystem with emphasis on the FTIR and gas cell. Panel D show the cryogenic subsystem and QA/QC manifold along with mass flow controllers (green boxes). Panel E shows the data acquisition system and mass flow junction boxes. Figure 1: NO x /O 3 schematic In the presence of VOCs (From Atkinson, 2000) Table 1: Comparison of key specifications from Apel et al. (2003) Fast GC/MS system, EPA Method TO-15 (1997), and the ECIP-FTIR Flow Diagram Figure 4: The ECIP-FTIR Flow Schematic. Red highlight  Continuous Flow Green highlight  Batch Sampling Purple highlight  QA/QC Target Compounds Table 2: Average concentrations are from data collected between May 2005 and May 2006 in Birmingham, AL using EPA Method TO-15. (Data courtesy of R. Dillard, Jefferson County Department of Health, Birmingham, AL) Performance Figure 2: ECIP-FTIR RMS signal to noise (SNR) vs. sample time (1024 scans = 60 minutes). Laboratory Results Cryogenic Performance During routine operations, the ECIP-FTIR preconcentrates batch samples within the cryotrap. The typical cooling cycle reduces the temperature of the cryotrap to 100 K (-173 °C). Heater coils maintain this temperature remotely. At present, the ECIP-FTIR cryogenic system is capable of reaching a range of temperatures. Laboratory spectra illustrate the ECIP-FTIR has  Adequate spectral resolution to identify trace pollutants in laboratory air  Good instrument sensitivity  The capability to quantify multiple compounds in complex calibration and in-air mixtures Figure 5: Cryocooler efficiency. The black trace is the coldhead temperature. The blue and red traces are trap temperatures at two different positions along the stack. Figure 6: Laboratory spectrum of methanol in Air. The blue trace is the measured spectrum. The green trace is a deconvolved high-resolution library spectrum. Birmingham Field Study Coke Plant U.S. Pipe Smelter Through a collaboration with the Jefferson County Department of Health and Atmospheric Research and Analysis, the ECIP-FTIR will be deployed in North Birmingham (yellow box) October 2010 – March This site is in close proximity to several industrial facilities, which frequently affect the air quality at the North Birmingham site. Also in close proximity are North Birmingham Elementary and Lewis Elementary (green stars), illustrating the importance of air quality measurements in this area. Figure G: VOC data from N. Birmingham site collected from July 2005 – June Analysis followed EPA TO-15 GC/MS protocol. Improve temporal coverage  Continuous operation vs. 1 in 6 Improve temporal resolution  4-hour batch, 15-minute cont. flow Improve data latency  Near-real-time products Improve chemical specificity  One analyzer for all IR-active gases Improve user interaction  Mobile, autonomous, non-specialist Reduce life cycle costs  Low annual, comparable start up Maintain or improve data quality  Meet EPA detection limits, on-board QA/QC Maintain or improve traceability  Innovation while using EPA-approved chemistry and physics Presence of carbonyls  Source of hydroxyl radical Presence of aromatics  Reacting with hydroxyl leading to O 3 formation Presence of chlorinated compounds such as carbon tetracholoride (not shown)  Enhancement of VOC oxidation and HCl formation NO x and O 3 data from N. Birmingham along with ECIP-FTIR VOCs will provide valuable information about VOC sources, sinks, and processes