Generalized kinetic mechanism for photochemical smog

Abstract

A generalized kinetic mechanism for photochemical smog is formulated and tested. The most important feature of the mechanism is its general nature; that is, the mechanism is applicable to a large number of hydrocarbons and, ultimately, the entire atmospheric mix. By design, the mechanism takes advantage of the common features of hydrocarbon and free radical reactions to maintain at a minimum the number of species included while at the same time retaining a high degree of detail, especially as concerns the chemistry of the inorganic species. The mechanism is tested using n-butane-NOₓ, propylene-NOₓ, and n-butane-propylene-NOₓ smog chamber data at 13 different sets of initial reactant concentrations and a wide variety of hydrocarbon to NOₓ ratios. The predicted effect of initial reactant ratios on ozone formation is in agreement with the data that were analyzed.

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