The Oxidation of NO to Yield NO2 in Emissions Testing Sample Bags

Atmospheric modelers and development engineers need accurate measures of NO₂ emissions from motor vehicles. Due to the oxidative reaction of oxygen with NO, these measurements (typically taken from a bag sample) can be inaccurate if care is not taken to minimize the sample residence time in the bags. This reaction occurs slowly at low NO concentrations, however, at higher NO concentrations the reaction can rapidly speed up (for example, 50 ppm NO will experience a 10% concentration reduction in 6.5 minutes). This report explores the factors contributing to this artifact for emissions test cells. Estimates of the error in NO₂ emission rate measurements for several scenarios are presented. Additionally, kinetic expressions of the reaction rate are shown to be fairly accurate for our test conditions, but should not be used in general without verification of the non-existence of competing, hindering or accelerating species within the sample bag.