Formation and growth rates of ultrafine atmospheric particles: a review of observations

Kulmala, Markku; Vehkamäki, Hanna; Petäj̈ä, Tuukka; Maso, Miikka Dal; Lauri, Antti; Kerminen, Veli‐Matti; Birmili, W.; McMurry, Peter H.

doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2003.10.003

Cited by 2,166 publications

(2,142 citation statements)

References 140 publications

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“…1,2 These newly formed particles can grow and ultimately act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), contributing to climate forcing. [3][4][5][6] Up to half of global CCN is estimated to originate from NPF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New particle formation and growth from methanesulfonic acid, trimethylamine and water

Chen

Ezell

Arquero

et al. 2015

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

110

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New particle formation from gas-to-particle conversion represents a dominant source of atmospheric particles and affects radiative forcing, climate and human health. The species involved in new particle formation and the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. Although sulfuric acid is commonly recognized as driving new particle formation, increasing evidence suggests the involvement of other species. Here we study particle formation and growth from methanesulfonic acid, trimethylamine and water at reaction times from 2.3 to 32 s where particles are 2-10 nm in diameter using a newly designed and tested flow system. The flow system has multiple inlets to facilitate changing the mixing sequence of gaseous precursors. The relative humidity and precursor concentrations, as well as the mixing sequence, are varied to explore their effects on particle formation and growth in order to provide insight into the important mechanistic steps. We show that water is involved in the formation of initial clusters, greatly enhancing their formation as well as growth into detectable size ranges. A kinetics box model is developed that quantitatively reproduces the experimental data under various conditions. Although the proposed scheme is not definitive, it suggests that incorporating such mechanisms into atmospheric models may be feasible in the near future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New particle formation and growth from methanesulfonic acid, trimethylamine and water

Chen

Ezell

Arquero

et al. 2015

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, previous studies have observed inverse relationships between wind speed and roadside UFP levels (Zhu et al, 2002(Zhu et al, , 2006aLevy et al, 2003) as well as between temperature and ambient UFP counts (Jeong et al, 2004(Jeong et al, , 2006 and therefore our results appear to be consistent with previous findings. Indeed, lower UFP exposures were expected at increased wind speeds owing to the dispersion of vehicular emissions, and the observed inverse correlation between ambient temperature and UFP exposures was not surprising as the formation of UFPs from traffic exhaust depends in part on vapor condensation (Korhonen et al, 2004;Kulmala et al, 2004) which is favored at lower temperatures. Specifically, some evidence suggests that organic compounds from unburned fuel and lubricating oil are involved in the formation of UFPs from vehicle exhaust (Tobias et al, 2001;Sakurai et al, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of ultrafine particle exposures in transportation environments: findings of an 8-month survey conducted in Montréal, Canada

Weichenthal

Dufresne

Infante‐Rivard

et al. 2008

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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An 8-month sampling campaign was conducted in Montre´al, Canada to explore determinants of ultrafine particle (UFP) exposures in transportation environments and to develop models to predict such exposures. Between April and November 2006, UFP (0.02-1 mm) count exposure data were collected for one researcher during 80 morning and evening commutes including a 0.5-km walk, a 3-km bus ride, and a 26-km automobile ride in each direction. Ambient temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, and wind speed/direction data were collected for each transit period and the positions of bus and automobile windows were recorded. Mixing heights were also estimated. Morning UFP exposures were significantly greater than those in the evening, with the highest levels observed in the automobile and the lowest while walking. Wind speed and mixing height were highly correlated, and as a result only wind speed was considered in multivariable models owing to the accessibility of quantitative hourly monitoring data. In these models, each 101C increase in morning temperature was associated with decreases of 14,560/cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 11,111 to 18,020), 8160/cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 5060 to 11,260), and 11,310/ cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 6820 to 15,810) for UFP exposures in walk, bus, and automobile environments, respectively. Likewise, each 10-km/h increase in morning wind speed corresponded to decreases of 8252/cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 5130 to 11,360), 6210/cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 3420 to 9000), and 6350/cm 3 (95% CI ¼ 2440 to 10,260) for UFP exposures in walk, bus, and automobile environments, respectively. Similar trends were observed in the evening hours. In an evaluation of model performance, moderate correlations were observed between measured and predicted UFP exposures on new bus (r ¼ 0.65) and automobile (r ¼ 0.77) routes. Further research is required to incorporate variables such as traffic density and vehicle ventilation settings into the models presented.

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“…In addition to our observations in Los Angeles, secondary particle formation events have been observed in urban areas, including Pittsburgh (Stanier et al, 2004), St. Louis (Shi and Qian, 2003) and Mexico City (Baumgardner et al, 2004). An excellent review of this topic is given by Kulmala et al (2004). The actual formation mechanism of nanoparticles in the range of 1-3 nm remains largely unknown and has recently become the subject of intensive research in the field of atmospheric science.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our current understanding of atmospheric nanoparticle processes suggests that growth of these particles to larger sizes within the ultrafine PM mode occurs by condensation of low volatility organic species. These species are products of photochemical oxidation of volatile organic precursors on these pre-existing nuclei (O'Dowd et al, 1999;Kulmala et al, 2004). In fact, recent studies by Zhang et al (2004) showed that nucleation rates of sulfuric acid are greatly increased in the presence of organic acids (including products of atmospheric photochemical reactions), by forming unusually stable organic-sulfuric acid complexes, thereby reducing the nucleation barrier of sulfuric acid.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal and spatial trends in particle number concentrations and size distributions at the children's health study sites in Southern California

Singh

Phuleria

Bowers

et al. 2005

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Formation and growth rates of ultrafine atmospheric particles: a review of observations

Cited by 2,166 publications

References 140 publications

New particle formation and growth from methanesulfonic acid, trimethylamine and water

New particle formation and growth from methanesulfonic acid, trimethylamine and water

Determinants of ultrafine particle exposures in transportation environments: findings of an 8-month survey conducted in Montréal, Canada

Seasonal and spatial trends in particle number concentrations and size distributions at the children's health study sites in Southern California

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