Measurement methods nitrogen dioxide

Reference methods for criteria (19) and hazardous (20) poUutants estabHshed by the US EPA include sulfur dioxide [7446-09-5] by the West-Gaeke method carbon monoxide [630-08-0] by nondispersive infrared analysis ozone [10028-15-6] and nitrogen dioxide [10102-44-0] by chemiluminescence (qv) and hydrocarbons by gas chromatography coupled with flame-ionization detection. Gas chromatography coupled with a suitable detector can also be used to measure ambient concentrations of vinyl chloride monomer [75-01-4], halogenated hydrocarbons and aromatics, and polyacrylonitrile [25014-41-9] (21-22) (see Chromatography Trace and residue analysis). 

Potentiometric titration with a sulfide ion-selective electrode as an indicator has been used to measure hydrogen sulfide in the air at ppb levels (Ehman 1976). The method has been shown to have very good accuracy and precision. No interference could be found from nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, or ozone. 

London. On the second day, the late afternoon peak exceeded 0.1 ppm. It is apparent that some conversion of nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide was responsible for the ozone buildups, but it is not as clear a chemical pattern for London as it is for cities in the western United States. The paper did not mention the method of ozone measurement however, qualitative descriptions of the weather patterns suggest that the days of high ozone were characterized by light winds and considerable sunlight. 

The reaction rate is extremely high, so that, even at concentrations smaller than parts per million, the reaction is virtually complete after a few seconds when there is an excess of nitric oxide present. Under these conditions, the amount of ozone added during the titration is equivalent to the amount of nitric oxide consumed and to the amount of nitrogen dioxide formed. The accuracy of this calibration method depends critically on the accurate measurements of the nitric oxide concentration and on the nitric oxide and ozone flow rates. 

The technol( for the routine measurement of the nitrogen oxides (nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide) is fairly well advanced. The epa is on the verge of officially proposing that chemiluminescence produced by the reaction of nitric oxide with ozone be the reference method for nitrogen dioxide.This method is even more suitable for nitric oxide. Because no national air quality standard has been promulgated for nitric oxide, no reference method will be specified. However, its measurement in the atmosphere is crucial for establishing the relation of its emission to the formation of atmospheric ozone and other photochemical oxidants. 

The diurnal patterns of ozone, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide concentrations observed during photochemical oxidant episodes in California have been confirmed by smog-chamber studies. There may be, however, a decrease in reliability with decreasing concentration of values less than 0.1 ppm that were measured by the colorimetric method. The magnitude of these uncertainties among the various monitoring networks in the United States has still to be assessed. 

In the measurement of nitrqgen dioxide with this technique, it is thermochemically converted to nitric oxide by reaction with molybdenum at about 200 C. The extent of possible interferences at various monitoring sites from nitrogen compounds other than amhionia, which does not interfere unless the temperature is considerably higher than 2(X) C, remains to be assessed. The instrumentation of this procedure is inherently more reliable than the original colorimetric analyzers. Unfortunately, the mutual equivalence in monitoring situations of data obtained by these two techniques has not yet been evaluated. This is particularly important for the data from California, where the colorimetric method has been used for more than 20 yr. 

Burkhardt, M. R N. I. Maniga, D. H. Stedman, and R. J. Paur, Gas Chromatographic Method for Measuring Nitrogen Dioxide and Peroxyacetyl Nitrate in Air without Compressed Gas Cylinders, Anal. Chem., 60, 816-819 (1988). 

Specific surface areas of various carbonized materials were measured by nitrogen gas adsorption with BET methods using an automated surface area analyzer (micro-track type 4200, Nikkiso, Japan). For mesopores whose diameter were less than SO nm, the surface areas and pore volumes were measured by carbon dioxide adsorption. The carbon dioxide adsorption at 298 K was measured with Bellsorp 28 (BEL Japan). The pore volume was determined using Dubinin-Radushkevich equation [4], and the surface area was determined by Medek s method [S]. 

Nitrogen dioxide was measured using the Saltzman method (13). Nitric oxide was oxidized to NO2 and subsequently determined as NO2. 

The affinity of variously oxidized cellulosic materials for certain basic dyes, notably methylene blue, has long been known. Kenyon and coworkers have recently shown that in the case of nitrogen dioxide oxycelluloses, the methylene blue absorption is a function of the carboxyl group content. Application of the reversible methylene blue method to the determination of carboxyl groups in purified cellulose has been made by Davidson and by Weber, who was able to show good agreement with the cation-exchange methods previously considered as well as with viscosity and osmotic pressure measurements. 

The problem of identifying and measuring ozone in the complex gaseous-aerosol mixture which is smog is formidable. There are such gases present as nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbon vapors from methane up to probably xylene, plus such partial oxidation products as aldehydes, ketones, and acids. The search for a method of high specificity has been an intensive one. 

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