GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL MONITORING WITH HYDROGEN FLAME IONIZATION DETECTOR

The primary nonorganic constituent of the atmosphere giving a response with the hydrogen flame ionization detector is sodium. Consequently, it appears that continuous, nonattended operation of the detector for organic aerosol monitoring can be achieved if ion pulses arising from sodium-containing particles can be subtracted from the total charge delivered in the pulse mode. To understand the response characteristics for the detector to sodium salts, the rate of ion formation has been studied, and first-order rate constants for the ionization of sodium in five small hydrogen diffusion flames have been determined. Rate data obtained from these studies indicate that the detector can detect particles of sodium chloride 0.1 y. in diameter. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.