Collaborative Research: RAPID--Atmospheric Chlorine Oxidation of Hydrocarbons Emitted from the North Slope of Alaska Oil Fields

该项目将研究氯（Cl）在冬季北极大气化学过程中的作用。测量活动将在阿拉斯加奥利托克点进行，这是一个由美国能源部大气辐射测量计划（DOE ARM）运营的现场，位于阿拉斯加油田北坡附近。冬季盐碱积雪释放的大气氯离子可与油田排放的挥发性有机物（VOCs）反应形成二次有机气溶胶（SOA）。这一过程的重要性将进行评估，其结果可能有应用到其他沿海地区，积雪覆盖，污染的位置在世界各地。这项研究将测试的假设，即氯化学发生在附近的冬季油田与盐积雪可以导致挥发性有机化合物的氧化排放的油田活动和形成氧化的挥发性有机化合物（OVOCs）和SOA。现场部署包括在线质谱测量大气中的挥发性有机化合物，OVOCs和SOA，和基于现场的氧化流动反应器（OFR）的实验，以调查在原位氯氧化的挥发性有机化合物和OVOCs和SOA的产生。 这些测量将提供在受污染的冬季环境中由Cl氧化引发的分子组成转变的详细数据集。该项目得到了NSF快速反应研究（RAPID）计划赠款的支持，因为美国能源部宣布奥利克托克角油田将于2021年关闭，从2020年秋季开始取消补充大气测量。没有计划重新开放这个网站;因此，有一个迫切需要在这个网站关闭之前进行的研究。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project will investigate the role of chlorine (Cl) in atmospheric chemical processes in the wintertime Arctic. A measurement campaign will be conducted at Oliktok Point Alaska, a field site that is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (DOE ARM) and is located in the vicinity of the north slope of Alaska oilfields. Atmospheric Cl emitted from wintertime saline snowpacks can react with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from the oil fields to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The importance of this process will be evaluated and the results may have application to other coastal, snow-covered, polluted locations around the world.This research will test the hypothesis that chlorine chemistry occurring in the vicinity of wintertime oil fields with saline snowpacks can result in the oxidation of VOCs emitted from oil field activities and the formation of oxidized VOCs (OVOCs) and SOA. The field deployment includes online mass spectrometry measurements of atmospheric VOCs, OVOCs, and SOA, and field-based oxidation flow reactor (OFR) experiments to investigate in situ Cl oxidation of VOCs and the resulting production of OVOCs and SOA. These measurements will provide detailed datasets of molecular composition transformations initiated by Cl oxidation in the polluted wintertime environment.This project was supported under the NSF Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program because the U.S. Department of Energy has announced that the Oliktok Point field site will be closing in 2021, with the removal of complementary atmospheric measurements starting in the fall of 2020. There are no plans to reopen this site; thus, there is an urgent need to conduct the research at this site before it is closed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.