A Filter-Based Approach for the Measurement of Mass Absorption Coefficient of OC and EC Components in Soot

ABSTRACT

There is a general consensus that soot produced by hydrocarbon combustion consists of two components, elemental carbon associated with the graphitic nanostructure and organic carbon. Despite the relevance of evaluating their radiative properties, particularly for organic carbon, the knowledge of the spectral absorption behavior remains limited. In this work, a dual-beam five wavelengths absorption photometer is used to estimate the optical properties of particulate matter generated by a laminar premixed ethylene-air flame at different residence times along the flame. The wavelength dependence of the light absorption of aerosols collected on filters is analyzed in terms of both the optical band gap and the absorption Ångström exponent, AAE. The aerosols are then analyzed in terms of the organic and elemental carbon content by a thermal-optical OC-EC analyzer. Combining the results of light absorption and OC-EC analysis, the spectral mass absorption coefficient of both the organic carbon and elemental carbon components in soot are obtained.

KEYWORDS:

• Soot
• absorption photometer
• organic/elemental carbon
• mass absorption coefficient
• Absorption ångström exponent

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by FESR PIR01_00015 PER-ACTRIS-IT “Potenziamento della componente italiana della Infrastruttura di Ricerca Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure” and by the project CIR – “Capitale Umano delle Infrastrutture di Ricerca di ACTRIS”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).