Measurement and analysis of the relationship between ammonia, acid gases, and fine particles in eastern North Carolina

An annular denuder system, which consisted of a cyclone separator; two diffusion denuders coated with sodium carbonate and citric acid, respectively; and a filter pack consisting of Teflon and nylon filters in series, was used to measure acid gases, ammonia (NH3), and fine particles in the atmosphere from April 1998 to March 1999 in eastern North Carolina (i.e., an NH3-rich environment). The sodium carbonate denuders yielded average acid gas concentrations of 0.23 mug/m(3) hydrochloric acid (standard deviation [SD] +/- 0.2 mug/m(3)); 1.14 mug/m(3) nitric acid (SD +/- 0.81 mug/m(3)), and 1.61 mug/m(3) sulfuric acid (SD +/- 1.58 mug/m(3)). The citric acid denuders yielded an average concentration of 17.89 mug/m(3) NH3 (SD +/- 15.03 mug/m(3)). The filters yielded average fine aerosol concentrations of 1.64 mug/m(3) ammonium (NH4+; SD +/- 1.26 mug/m(3)); 0.26 mug/m(3) chloride (SD +/- 0.69 mug/m(3)), 1.92 mug/m(3) nitrate (SD +/- 1.09 mug/m(3)), and 3.18 mug/m(3) sulfate (SO42-; SD +/- 3.12 mug/m(3)). From seasonal variation, the measured particulates (NH4+, SO42-, and nitrate) showed larger peak concentrations during summer, suggesting that the gas-to-particle conversion was efficient during summer. The aerosol fraction in this study area indicated the domination of ammonium sulfate particles because of the local abundance of NH3, and the long-range transport of SO42- based on back trajectory analysis. Relative humidity effects on gas-to-particle conversion processes were analyzed by particulate NH4+ concentration originally formed from the neutralization processes with the secondary pollutants in the atmosphere.