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Application of single‐particle laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry for detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soot particles originating from an industrial combustion process
Author(s) -
Zimmermann R.,
Ferge T.,
Gälli M.,
Karlsson R.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.979
Subject(s) - chemistry , soot , mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , aerosol , combustion , time of flight mass spectrometry , particle (ecology) , desorption , ionization , environmental chemistry , chromatography , ion , adsorption , organic chemistry , oceanography , geology
Combustion‐related soot particles were sampled in situ from the stoker system of a 0.5 MW incineration pilot plant (feeding material was wood) at two different heights over the feed bed in the third air supply zone. The collected particles were re‐aerosolized by a powder‐dispersing unit and analyzed by a single‐particle laser desorption/ionization (LDI) time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer (aerosol‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, ATOFMS). The ATOFMS instrument characterizes particles according to their aerodynamic size (laser velocimetry) and chemical composition (LDI mass spectrometry). Chemical species from the particles are laser desorbed/ionized by 266 nm Nd:YAG laser pulses. ATOFMS results on individual ‘real world’ particles in general give information on the bulk inorganic composition. Organic compounds, which are of much lower concentrations, commonly are not detectable. However, recent off‐line laser microprobe mass spectrometric (LMMS) experiments on bulk soot aerosol samples have emphasized that organic compounds can be desorbed and ionized without fragmentation in LDI experiments from black carbonaceous matrices. This paper reports the successful transfer of the off‐line results to on‐line analysis of airborne soot particles by ATOFMS. The detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soot particles is addressed in detail. The results are interpreted in the context of the recent LMMS results. Furthermore, their relevance with respect to possible applications in on‐line monitoring of combustion processes is discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.