Proton Transfer Reaction Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (VOCUS)

Trace gas detection

The PTR-TOF-MS provides real time measurements of a wide range of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) at high sensitivity, mass resolution and frequency. VOCs are key component of air pollution
and are involved in tropospheric ozone formation and the formation of secondary organic aerosols.
They also make excellent tracers of different pollution sources and can be used for assessing the
photochemical age of sampled air. VOCs measured include aromatics, carbonyls, organic acids,
sulfur-containing compounds, isoprene, monoterpenes, furans, and many others. Collecting
thousands of mass spectra every second, the instrument is also ideal for scanning for unknowns and
nicely complements the other mass spectrometers on the aircraft.

Project Contact: Professor David Oram

Institution: University of East Anglia

Email: d.oram@uea.ac.uk