Objective
To study the atmospheric behaviour of oxygenated organic substances in real air mixtures under a variety of different VOC compositions and NOx
Laboratory studies have been performed on the importance of ozone reactions with biogenic volotile organic compounds (VOC), the atmospheric oxidation of halogenated organic compounds used as fuel additives and the atmospheric oxidation of halogenated compounds af anthropogenic and biogenic origin.
Reactions of ozone with biogenic compounds
Kinetics and project studies of reactions of ozone with a variety of biogenic compounds. Emphasis has been placed on ozone with alkenes, since experimental evidence that these reactions lead to the formation of OH radicals. The reactions with a series of alkenes have been investigated and the OH radical yoeld rationalized in terms of the molecular stucture of the alkenes.
Atmospheric oxidation of oxygenated VOCs
The rate constants of the reaction of OH radicals with a series of alcohols, esters and ethers have been measured. studies have focused on difunctional cmpounds such as CH3O(CH2)nOCH3 which have potential applications as fuel additives and water based solvents in industry, Structure reactivity relationships are being developed to facilitate prediction of the kinetics of atmosperic oxygen and hence tropospheric lifetimes.
Atmospheric oxidation of halogenated organic compounds
Rate constants have been determined fro the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with a number of fluorinated ethers and chlorinated alkanes and alkenes. The results give estimates of the atmospheric lifetimes of these compounds and provide structure reactivity information on the reactions.
Concern for the environment is a high priority for National governments and the European Community. Photochemical Oxidant formation, arising from anthropogenic emissions of NOx and and VOCs, is now widely recognised as a major problem on both a local and a global scale. There is considerable current interest in the high levels of oxygenated compounds which are both emitted and formed in the troposphere. Oxygenated organics are used as solvents and have also been suggested as alternative fuels. Further, nearly all oxidation processes of VOCs lead to the production of more or less reactive oxygenated reactants as intermediates. There is an urgent need for research in the atmospheric chemistry of these oxygenated species in order that regulation on emissions of this type of compound will lead to maximun environmental and economic benefits.
It is proposed to organise an extensive research project in which basic mechanistic studies on the atmospheric behaviour of oxygenated organic substances in real air mixtures under a variety of different VOC compositions and NOx concentrations will be carried out. The aim of the project is to set up a general chemical mechanism using all available kinetic data which can be adjusted to different European situations. The results should enable the impact of a single VOC on the formation of ozone to be assessed and the impact of other phototoxic species within the group of photooxidants which affect human health or are phytotoxic, to be estimated. The large number and type of oxygen-containing compounds, either released directly into the atmosphere or formed by the degradative oxidation of other VOCs, precludes studies on each possible compound. A feasible alternative to this unrealistic approach is to carefully select generic compounds for detailed investigation. This will give rise to structure-reactivity relationships which may be used to make reliable predictions concerning the kinetics and mechanism for oxidation of the various families of oxygenated organic compounds. Thus, the first part of the programme involves the generation of kinetic and mechanistic data for a number of generic compounds under well defined laboratory conditions. This should enable detailed mechanisms for the atmospheric oxidation of these species to be derived in the second part of the project. Testing of the mechanisms will be carried out under atmospheric conditions at the EUPHORE outdoor smog chamber facility. In the next phase it is hoped to develop methods for the strategic simplification of degradation schemes. Again, the results will be tested in the EUPHORE chamber. Finally, the chemical mechanism produced in the programme will be used in tropospheric models to provide information on the impact of single VOCs and other concomitant species within the group of photooxidants which affect human health.
SMOG, OXIDANT, ATMOSPHERIC DEGRADATIONS, SMOG CHAMBER, TROPOSPHERIC MODELS
Photochemical Oxidant formation, arising from anthropogenic emissions of NOx and VOCs, is now widely recognised as a major problem on both a local and a global scale. There is considerable current interest in the high levels of oxygenated compounds which are both emitted and formed in the troposphere. Oxygenated organics are used as solvents and have also been suggested as alternative fuels. Further, nearly all oxidation processes of VOCs lead to the production of more or less reactive oxygenated reactants as intermediates. There is an urgent need for research in the atmospheric chemistry of these oxygenated species in order that regulation on emissions of this type of compound will lead to maximum environmental and economic benefits.
A general chemical mechanism using all available kinetic data which can be adjusted to different European situations will be established. The results should enable the impact of a single VOC on the formation of ozone to be assessed and the impact of other phototoxic species within the group of photooxidants which affect human health or are phytotoxic, to be estimated. The large number and type of oxygen-containing compounds, either released directly into the atmosphere or formed by the degradative oxidation of other VOCs, precludes studies on each possible compound. A feasible alternative to this unrealistic approach is to carefully select generic compounds for detailed investigation. This will give rise to structure-reactivity relationships which may be used to make reliable predictions concerning the kinetics and mechanism for oxidation of the various families of oxygenated organic compounds. Thus, the first part of the programme involves the generation of kinetic and mechanistic data for a number of generic compounds under well defined laboratory conditions. This should enable detailed mechanisms for the atmospheric oxidation of these species to be derived in the second part of the project. Testing of the mechanisms will be carried out under atmospheric conditions at the EUPHORE outdoor smog chamber facility. In the next phase it is hoped to develop methods for the strategic simplification of degradation schemes. Again, the results will be tested in the EUPHORE chamber. Finally, the chemical mechanism produced in the programme will be used in tropospheric models to provide information on the impact of single VOCs and other concomitant species within the group of photooxidants which affect human health.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryvolatile organic compounds
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistryelectrolysis
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologytroposphere
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
4 Dublin
Ireland