Development of a gas-chromatography apparatus to measure the thermal decomposition of CH3C(O)OONO2 (PAN)

Peroxyacetic nitric anhydride (PAN CH3C(O)OO2NO2) is formed in the atmosphere following the oxidation of various organic compounds in the presence of NOx (NOx= NO + NO2). PAN plays an important role in the long range, low temperature transport of NOx and contributes to the formation of air pollution in remote clean environments. The primary atmospheric removal process for PAN is by thermal decomposition. Thermal decomposition rate constants for PAN have been measured previously but more accurate values are desired. The need to measure the thermal decomposition rates for PAN-type species is imperative for understanding and predicting the behavior of the compounds in the atmosphere. In this project, a PAN compound was synthesized in the laboratory using well-established methods. The PAN sample was studied using a computer controlled gas-chromatography apparatus. The experimental apparatus was setup and a LabVIEW program was used for the purpose of controlling the Gas Chromatography, collecting the frequency measurements from the Electron Capture Detector (ECD), and graphing the data. This presentation will discuss the various topics of the project.