Computational simulation of the dynamics of secondary organic aerosol formation in an environmental chamber

Abstract

A key atmospheric process that is studied in laboratory chambers is the oxidation of volatile organic compounds to form low volatility products that condense on existing atmospheric particles (or nucleate) to form organic aerosol, so-called secondary organic aerosol. The laboratory chamber operates as a chemical reactor, in which a number of chemical and physical processes take place: gas-phase chemistry, transport of vapor oxidation products to suspended particles followed by uptake into the particles, deposition of vapors on the walls of the chamber, deposition of particles on the walls of the chamber, and coagulation of suspended particles. Understanding the complex interplay among these simultaneous physicochemical processes is necessary in order to interpret the results of chamber experiments. Here we develop and utilize a comprehensive computational model for dynamics of vapors and particles in a laboratory chamber and analyze chamber behavior over a range of physicochemical conditions.