Large-scale measurement of airborne particulate sulfur

Conference · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

OSTI ID:5341453

Loo, B W; French, W R; Gatti, R C; Goulding, F S; Jaklevic, J M; Llacer, J; Thompson, A C

An aerosol sampling and analysis system is described that represents an integral approach to large-scale monitoring of airborne particulate matter. During our two-year period 34,000 size-fractionated samples were collected by automated dichotomous samplers characterized by a particle size cutpoint of 2.4 ..mu..m. The total mass of the particulate matter was measured by beta-particle attenuation, and the elemental composition, including sulfur, was determined by photon-excited x-ray fluorescence. The long-term performance of the system is reported. Potential systematic effects related to the sampling and analysis of sulfur particles are treated. Both the accuracy and precision of sulfur measurement are estimated to be 2 percent. While the x-ray attenuation correction required is typically only a few percent, a larger correction is required for a small fraction of the samples due to the migration of the sulfur into the filter. Laboratory and field experiments showed insignificant gaseous SO/sub 2/ conversion on the type of filters employed in the study. Preliminary data on the composition and the temporal and spatial distribution of the St. Louis aerosol are presented. The long-term (4 month average) sulfur data indicate that the background air masses arriving at St. Louis from the west and north were about 30 percent lower in particulate sulfur than those from the east and south. Short-term (6 hour average) data indicate that the effects of stationary SO/sub 2/ sources extend for long distances (at least 40 km), and are highly directional in character.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5341453
• Report Number(s): LBL-6171; CONF-770909-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORS
AIR SAMPLERS
BROMINE
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
DESIGN
DISPERSIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HALOGENS
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
LEAD
MASS TRANSFER
METALS
NONMETALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
PERFORMANCE
POLLUTION
SAMPLERS
SAMPLING
SOLS
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
ZINC