AAAR 31st Annual Conference
October 8-12, 2012
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Contribution of Alkanes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Organic Aerosol
HAVALA PYE, George Pouliot, Michael Lewandowski, John Offenberg, Tadeusz Kleindienst, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract Number: 719 Working Group: Carbonaceous Aerosols in the Atmosphere
Abstract Intermediate volatility organic compounds, such as long-chain alkanes and small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are thought to contribute significantly to ambient organic aerosol as a result of their low volatility and ability to reduce their vapor pressure to the semivolatile range with minimal functionalization. In this work, we develop a parameterization for SOA formation from different length and structure alkanes and use that as a basis for the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to simulate the contribution of C8 and larger alkanes to secondary organic aerosol over the United States. The contribution of PAHs is included based on previously published work. Alkanes are predicted to be a more significant source of secondary organic aerosol than PAHs due to their relatively higher emissions, and the aerosol from alkane oxidation is predicted to be well correlated with odd oxygen. The possible implications of missing long-chain alkane emissions are highlighted.