Simultaneous measurements of gaseous nitrous acid and particulate nitrite using diffusion scrubber/steam chamber/luminol chemiluminescence

Abstract

An instrument was developed for the simultaneous determination of gas- and aerosol-phase nitrous acid (HONO). Gaseous HONO (HONO(g)) was sampled by a diffusion scrubber and particulate nitrite (NO2-(p)) was collected by a particle growth chamber. The collected samples were analyzed in time-sharing manner, based on the peroxynitrite-induced luminol chemiluminescence. The automated system was found to be sensitive with 13 pptv of detection limit, fast with 4 min. of sampling frequency, and simple and affordable to construct and operate. The system was optimized by adjusting the experimental parameters. The system was applied to the field measurement of gas- and particle-phase HONO during the springtime of 2004 in Gwangju, South Korea. HONO(g) concentrations varied diurnally from 200 pptv around 3 P.M. to 800 pptv at 5 A.M. The variation of NO2-(p) was not significant with the maximum of 240 pptv at 11 P.M. and the minimum of 170 pptv at 4 P.M., not displaying distinct characteristics.