Refinement and Demonstration of a New Indoor Continuous Nitrogen Dioxide Monitor
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ABSTRACT This is the Final Report on California Air Resources Board (CARB) Contract No. 99-327 -Refinement and Demonstration of a New Indoor Continuous Nitrogen Dioxide Monitor. This work builds on CARB Contract No. 96-312 (Kelly and Myers, 1999). Under that contract, a small, quiet, portable instrument was developed to measure nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrous acid (HONO) in indoor air. Indoor sources of these toxic compounds include emissions from combustion sources, such as cooking appliances, portable heaters, and tobacco smoking. The NO2/HONO instrument is a fully self-contained continuous monitor, based on a miniature commercial electrochemical cell that responds to both NO2 and HONO. In this project, investigators further refined the four electrochemical NO2/HONO monitors developed under the previous program, assembled one additional monitor, and improved the data reduction process. The monitors were fitted with improved electronics, new pump mufflers, and a tamper proof front cover. The monitors were tested in the laboratory and in test chambers at Battelle and were evaluated by CARB staff in Sacramento, California. The refinement produced a small, quiet, portable, easy to use, linear, and repeatable monitor that is able to record concentrations below 15 ppbv. |