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Atmospheric Hydrocarbon Analysis, Dawei Han

Dissertations and Theses

This treatise studied two correlated important issues in atmospheric chemistry: real-time monitoring of ambient air and removal mechanisms of atmospheric hydrocarbons. An analytical system was designed for the purpose of identification and measurement of sub-ppb level hydrocarbons of different reactivities in air samples. This analytical system was then applied to a series of smog-chamber studies which simulated the removal of reactive hydrocarbons from the atmosphere by reaction with hydroxyl radicals. Six representative atmospheric hydrocarbons (hexane, octane, toluene, m-xylene, a-xylene and mesitylene) were selected for these experiments. The experimental data indicated that the decay of atmospheric hydrocarbons under laboratory conditions is …