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RECORD NUMBER: 484 OF 1132

Main Title Formaldehyde Production in Photochemical Smog as Predicted by Three State-of-the-Science Chemical Oxidant Mechanisms.
Author Dodge., M. C. ;
CORP Author Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Lab.
Publisher c1990
Year Published 1990
Report Number EPA/600/J-90/065;
Stock Number PB90-245713
Additional Subjects Formaldehyde ; Photochemical reactions ; Atmospheric models ; Air pollution abatement ; Smog ; Urban areas ; Reaction kinetics ; Oxidizers ; Nitrogen oxides ; Air pollution control ; Concentration(Composition) ; Hydrogen peroxide ; Ethylene ; Alkene hydrocarbons ; Reprints ; Chemical reaction mechanisms ; Volatile organic compounds
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NTIS  PB90-245713 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 16p
Abstract
A moving box model was used to compare formaldehyde (HCHO) predictions obtained with three photochemical oxidant mechanisms. In simulations using a typical urban mix of organic pollutants, the mechanisms were found to yield HCHO predictions that agreed to within 10% of each other provided the same reaction rates were used in all three mechanisms to describe the photolysis of HCHO. The agreement for simulations using pollutant mixtures containing only one organic species showed more variability. Formaldehyde predictions obtained under typical urban conditions for ethene, propene, and acetaldehyde were in excellent agreement; significant differences, however, were noted for the 2-alkenes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Predictions of ozone and hydrogen peroxide obtained with the urban mixture were very sensitive to the initial concentration of HCHO included in the simulations. Depending on whether HCHO was assumed to constitute 0% or 2% of the initial mix of organic pollutants, resulting ozone yields varied by as much as 15-30%; hydrogen peroxide yields differed by factors of 4-10 depending on the mechanism used. To estimate the effectiveness of various control measures for limiting HCHO production, simulations were also conducted where individual organic species within the urban mix were reduced and the resulting decreases in HCHO yields were noted. The largest decreases in HCHO predictions occurred for reductions in ethene and the other 1-alkenes; the smallest decreases were obtained when the monoalkylbenzenes or the alkanes were reduced.