title: Calibration and evaluation of nitric acid and ammonia permeation tubes by UV optical absorption.
abstract: An ultraviolet (UV) optical absorption system has been developed for absolute calibrations of nitric acid (HNO3) and ammonia (NH3) permeation tube emission rates. Using this technique, dilute mixtures containing NH3 or HNO3, both of which interact strongly with many surfaces, are accurately measured at levels below a part per million by volume. This compact and portable instrument operates continuously and autonomously to rapidly (<1 h) quantify the emission of trace gases from permeation devices that are commonly used to calibrate air-monitoring instruments. The output from several HNO3 and NH3 permeation tubes, with emission rates that ranged between 13 and 150 ng/min, was examined as a function of temperature, pressure, and carrier gas flow. Absorptions of 0.015% can be detected which allows a precision (3sigma) of +/-1 ng/min for the HNO3 and NH3 permeation tubes studied here. The accuracy of the measurements, which relies on published UV absorption cross sections, is estimated to be +/-10%. Measurements of permeation tube emission rates using ion chromatography analysis are made to further assess measurement accuracy. The output from the HNO3 and NH3 permeation tubes examined here was stable over the study period, which ranged between 3 months and 1 year for each permeation tube.
authors.affiliation: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA. neuman@al.noaa.gov
authors.forename: J Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Neuman
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ryerson
authors.forename: L Gregory
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Huey
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jakoubek
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simons
authors.forename: Frederick C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Fehsenfeld
mesh_terms: D000392:Air Movements; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis*; D002138:Calibration; D017942:Nitric Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D010539:Permeability; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D017942:Nitric Acid; D000641:Ammonia