Modelling of aerosol processes in plumes

Summarization: A modelling platform for studying photochemical gaseous and aerosol phase processes from localized (e.g., point) sources has been presented. The current approach employs a reactive plume model which extends the regulatory model RPM-IV by incorporating aerosol processes and heterogeneous chemistry. The physics and chemistry of elemental carbon, organic carbon, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium material of aerosols are treated and attributed to the PM size distribution. A modified version of the carbon bond IV chemical mechanism is included to model the formation of organic aerosol. Aerosol dynamics modeled include mechanisms of nucleation, condensation, dry deposition and gas/particle partitioning of organic matter. The model is first applied to a number of case studies involving emissions from point sources and sulfate particle formation in plumes. Model calculations show that homogeneous nucleation is an efficient process for new particle formation in plumes, in agreement with previous field studies and theoretical predictions. In addition, the model is compared with field data from power plant plumes with satisfactory predictions against gaseous species and total sulphate mass measurements. Finally, the plume model is applied to study secondary organic matter formation due to various emission categories such as vehicles and the oil production sector.Presented on: Tellus