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 High resolution monitoring of roadside-air VOCs



 The IONICON PTR-TOFMS series features not only a very low detection limit for most common VOCs but delivers  results with a very high mass resolution and quantification of the whole unlimited mass range in one scan. This  allows our customers to discriminate isobars and get substantially more information from the collected data.

 The graph on the left side shows a very good example of very low concentrated isobars that were detected using a  PTR-TOF 8000. Both compounds have the same nominal mass and cannot be distinguished using a quadrupole bases  instrument. Using a PTR-TOF, however, we were able to separate and identify them as C3H6O2 ( e.g. acetic acid  methyl ester or and formic acid ethyl ester) at 75.0446 and C4H10O ( e.g. dimethylethanol) at 75.081.

 Mobile PTR-MS solutions

 Our instruments are perfectly suited for field campaigns, as a lot of scientists have successfully proven over the last  decade. Among them, Prof. Berk Knighton, Montana State University, has installed an IONICON PTR-MS in a mobile  lab to monitor engine exhaust in real-time, "chasing" single vehicles in Mexico City Metropolitan Area's traffic. It was  shown that the results differ according to vehicle condition, fuel quality, and driving behavior.

 Experience this experiment in an illustrative video sequence (15 Mb, quicktime, courtesy of Prof. Knighton). In the  video you will see a picture of the vehicle being monitored in the upper left hand. On the bottom you will see the  evolution of two signals: (1) CO2, a combustion tracer to verify that the mobile lab is intercepting the vehicles exhaust  plume; and (2) PTR-MS signal at m/z 57, a fragment from MTBE, an additive in Mexican fuel. In the upper panel a  correlation scatter plot of the m/z 57 signal (in ppbv) versus the CO2 concentration is shown. The slope represents  the emission ratio.


 Related Publications




 IONICON PTR-MS systems are well established tools in  environmental research. Their fast response-times and  ultra-low detection limits help researchers all over the  planet to better understand the world we live in.

 Environmental Research

 PTR-MS for ultra-sensitive real-time monitoring of air pollutants

de Gouw, J., and C. Warneke, 2007.  Jordan, A. et al., 2009.  Sulzer, P. et al., 2014.