Observations of urban airborne particle number concentrations during rush-hour conditions: analysis of the number based size distributions and modal parameters

A summertime study of the number concentration and the size distribution of combustion derived nanometre sized particles (termed nanoparticles) from diesel and spark-ignition (SI) engine emissions were made under rush-hour and free-flow traffic conditions at an urban roadside location in Leeds, UK in July 2003. The measured total particle number concentrations (NTOTAL) were of the order 1.8 × 10⁴ to 3.4 × 10⁴ cm⁻³, and tended to follow the diurnal traffic flow patterns. The NTOTAL was dominated by particles ≤100 nm in diameter which accounted for between 89–93% of the measured particle number. By use of a log-normal fitting procedure, the modal parameters of the number based particle size distribution of urban airborne particulates were derived from the roadside measurements. Four component modes were identified. Two nucleation modes were found, with a smaller, more minor, mode composed principally of sub-11 nm particles, believed to be derived from particles formed from the nucleation of gaseous species in the atmosphere. A second mode, much larger in terms of number, was composed of particles within the size range of 10–20 nm. This second mode was believed to be principally derived from the condensation of the unburned fuel and lube oil (the solvent organic fraction or SOF) as it cooled on leaving the engine exhaust. Third and fourth modes were noted within the size ranges of 28–65 nm and 100–160 nm, respectively. The third mode was believed to be representative of internally mixed Aitken mode particles composed of a soot/ash core with an adsorbed layer of readily volatilisable material. The fourth mode was believed to be composed of chemically aged, secondary particles. The larger nucleation and Aitken modes accounted for between 80–90% of the measured NTOTAL, and the particles in these modes were believed to be derived from SI and diesel engine emissions. The overall size distribution, particularly in modes II–IV, was observed to be strongly related to the number of primary particle emissions, with larger count median diameters observed under conditions where low numbers of primary soot based particles were present.