Comparison of the results of hydrocarbon oxidation experiments in an indoor and an outdoor atmospheric simulation chamber

Experiments in atmospheric simulation chambers enable the parameters of reaction kinetics to be determined and chemical mechanisms to be tested. However, observations are also affected by processes within the chambers that must be considered when interpreting experiments. This work compares results from experiments conducted in two chambers: the outdoor chamber SAPHIR at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany and the indoor chamber IASC at University College Cork in Ireland. The experiments were conducted on the same hydrocarbon oxidation processes. Box model calculations that included the chemical mechanisms of the species under study and the chemical and physical processes related to the chambers demonstrate good agreement between the modelled and measured time series of the observed species. This shows that the effects of the chambers were accurately characterised. The results could be used as a template for quality assurance and quality control protocols for simulation chambers, particularly within the ACTRIS research infrastructure.