Continuous Monitoring of Methane and Other Hydrocarbons In Urban Atmospheres

Abstract

Continuous measurements of total hydrocarbons (and other organic substances) and of methane were made in Cincinnati and Los Angeles for three-month periods. Some of the measurements were made during episodes of photochemical air pollution. Two instruments, one for measurement of total hydrocarbons and the other for methane, were operated in parallel. Both incorporated flame ionization detectors having greater sensitivity than commercial flame ionization instruments. The flame ionization analysis for methane was made specific by use of an adsorbent carbon column preceding the analyzer to retain all organic substances except methane. Subtracting the methane concentration values from those for total hydrocarbons gave nonmethane hydrocarbon concentrations. The data showed diurnal patterns of concentrations of methane and nonmethane hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. Average hourly values for methane were strikingly similar in Los Angeles and in Cincinnati (2.6 and 2.4 ppm, respectively); those for nonmethane hydrocarbons were four times as high in Los Angeles (3.0 and 0.8 ppm, respectively). A bimodal frequency distribution pattern of the concentrations suggested that atmospheric ventilation was either good or poor, with less than a random amount of time in intermediate stages. The width of the methane frequency distribution peak was about half the width of that for nonmethane hydrocarbons, indicating a different and more constant source for the former.