In this paper stable carbon isotope ratios (13C) were determined in the atmosphere by using a Ca-based sorbent, CaO/Ca12Al14O33 75:25 w/w, for passively collecting atmospheric CO2, in both field and laboratory experiments. Field measurements were conducted in three environments characterized by different carbon dioxide sources. In particular the environment under consideration were a rather heavily trafficked road, where the source of CO2 is mostly vehicle exhaust, a rural unpolluted area and a private kitchen where the major source of CO2 was gas combustion. Samplers were exposed to the free atmosphere for 3 days in order to allow collection of sufficient CO2 for δ13C analysis, then the collected CO2 was desorbed from the adsorbent with acid treatment and directly analysed by nondispersive infrared (NDIR) instrument. δ13C results confirmed that the samplers collected representative CO2 samples and no fractionation occurred during passive trapping, as also confirmed by an appositely designed experiment conducted in the laboratory. Passive sampling using CaO/Ca12Al14O33 75:25 w/w proved to be an easy and reliable method to collect atmospheric carbon dioxide for δ13C analysis in both indoor and outdoor places.
Stable carbon isotope ratio in atmospheric CO2 collected by new diffusive devices
PROTO, Antonio;CUCCINIELLO, RAFFAELE;ROSSI, FEDERICO;MOTTA, ORIANA
2014-01-01
Abstract
In this paper stable carbon isotope ratios (13C) were determined in the atmosphere by using a Ca-based sorbent, CaO/Ca12Al14O33 75:25 w/w, for passively collecting atmospheric CO2, in both field and laboratory experiments. Field measurements were conducted in three environments characterized by different carbon dioxide sources. In particular the environment under consideration were a rather heavily trafficked road, where the source of CO2 is mostly vehicle exhaust, a rural unpolluted area and a private kitchen where the major source of CO2 was gas combustion. Samplers were exposed to the free atmosphere for 3 days in order to allow collection of sufficient CO2 for δ13C analysis, then the collected CO2 was desorbed from the adsorbent with acid treatment and directly analysed by nondispersive infrared (NDIR) instrument. δ13C results confirmed that the samplers collected representative CO2 samples and no fractionation occurred during passive trapping, as also confirmed by an appositely designed experiment conducted in the laboratory. Passive sampling using CaO/Ca12Al14O33 75:25 w/w proved to be an easy and reliable method to collect atmospheric carbon dioxide for δ13C analysis in both indoor and outdoor places.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.