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MECHANISMS OF PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS IN URBAN AIR. VOLUME II. CHAMBER STUDIES
Citation:
Pitts, Jr., J., K. Darnall, A. Winer, AND J. McAfee. MECHANISMS OF PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS IN URBAN AIR. VOLUME II. CHAMBER STUDIES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-77/014b.
Description:
The smog chamber facility of the Statewide Air Pollution Research Center has been employed in a study designed to provide experimental data required for the validation of kinetic computer models of chemical transformations in polluted atmospheres. A 5800-l, Teflon-coated, evacuable chamber and 25-KW xenon arc solar simulator were used for irradiations, under simulated atmospheric conditions, of hydrocarbon-NOx systems. Detailed time-concentration profiles were obtained for a wide range of products as well as the reactants employed. Relative and absolute concentrations of the hydrocarbon-NOx systems were chosen on a factorial design basis. This report presents results obtained in the first eighteen months of the program (July, 1973 through November, 1974). Preliminary chamber and light source characterization studies were carried out and included determination of ozone lifetimes, absolute light intensity, spatial homogeneity of light within the chamber, mixing and equilibration times, and sampling rates. Some preliminary efforts to characterize surface effects were also made. The photochemistry program included investigation of the propylene-NOx and n-butane-NOx photo-oxidation systems and also a study of the effects on these systems of variables such as added aldehydes, temperature, and initial NO/NO2 ratio. Data from this experimental program are presented, and their uses and limitations discussed.