A captive-air irradiation study of the response of nitric acid and peroxyacetyl nitrate to ozone control strategies in Los Angeles

Outdoor smog chamber experiments were used to study the sensitivity of the yields of two important nitrogen-containing pollutants, nitric acid (HNO₃) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) to changes in nonmethane hydrocarbon (HC) and nitrogen oxide (NO_x) concentrations in Los Angeles. The experiments were conducted at two sites in the Los Angeles Basin using eight chambers filled with morning Los Angeles air on 33 days. At least one chamber was unchanged and served as a control, while the initial HC and/or NO_x concentrations were changed by 25–50% in up to seven chambers to simulate O₃ control strategies and to broaden the range of HC - NO_x conditions studied. Empirical models that predict the maximum yields of HNO₃ and PAN were used to determine the response of these pollutants to three possible ozone control strategies. All three strategies (reductions in HC, NO_x or both HC and NO_x) reduced PAN while only NO_x reductions decreased HNO₃. However, reducing NO_x increased the HC reductions required to attain lower O₃ levels. Thus, there is a conflict between the O₃ and HNO₃ control strategies.