Observations of VOC emissions and photochemical products over US oil- and gas-producing regions using high-resolution H3O+ CIMS (PTR-ToF-MS)

Details

• Journal Title:
  Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Personal Author:
  Koss, Abigail ; Yuan, Bin ; Warneke, Carsten ; Gilman, Jessica B. ; Lerner, Brian M. ; Veres, Patrick R. ; Peischl, Jeff ; Eilerman, Scott ; Wild, Rob ; Brown, Steven S. ; Thompson, Chelsea R. ; Ryerson, Thomas ; Hanisco, Thomas ; Wolfe, Glenn M. ; Clair, Jason M. St. ; Thayer, Mitchell ; Keutsch, Frank N. ; Murphy, Shane ; de Gouw, Joost
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; CSL (Chemical Sciences Laboratory)
• Description:
  VOCs related to oil and gas extraction operations in the United States were measured by H3O+ chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (H3O+ ToFCIMS/PTR-ToF-MS) from aircraft during the Shale Oil and Natural Gas Nexus (SONGNEX) campaign in March-April 2015. This work presents an overview of major VOC species measured in nine oil-and gas-producing regions, and a more detailed analysis of H3O+ ToF-CIMS measurements in the Permian Basin within Texas and New Mexico. Mass spectra are dominated by small photochemically produced oxygenates and compounds typically found in crude oil: aromatics, cyclic alkanes, and alkanes. Mixing ratios of aromatics were frequently as high as those measured downwind of large urban areas. In the Permian, the H3O+ ToF-CIMS measured a number of underexplored or previously unreported species, including aromatic and cycloalkane oxidation products, nitrogen heterocycles including pyrrole (C4H5N) and pyrroline (C4H7N), H2S, and a diamondoid (adamantane) or unusual monoterpene. We additionally assess the specificity of a number of ion masses resulting from H3O+ ion chemistry previously reported in the literature, including several new or alternate interpretations.
• Source:
  Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 10(8), 2941-2968.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2941-2017
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b3daf6396e796ce2ad2ad2af38b3201b8b26289381da3931728965d501c3d4f9862c463823cdbf56fa38f91d3d3d30fbe64537655af786a599ae3298bec94f8b
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22227/noaa_22227_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 16.17 MB ]