Atmospheric Chemistry of Six Methyl-perfluoroheptene-ethers Used as Heat Transfer Fluid Replacement Compounds: Measured OH Radical Reaction Rate Coefficients, Atmospheric Lifetimes, and Global Warming Potentials
Abstract
Mixtures of methyl-perfluoroheptene-ethers (C7F13OCH3, MPHEs) are currently in use as a replacement for perfluorinated alkane (PFC) and polyether mixtures (both persistent greenhouse gases with atmospheric lifetimes >1000 years) used as heat transfer fluids. Currently, the atmospheric fate of the MPHE isomers are not well characterized, however, reaction with the OH radical is expected to be a dominant tropospheric loss process for these compounds. In order to assess the atmospheric lifetimes and environmental implications of MPHE use, rate coefficients for MPHE isomers' reaction with OH radicals are desired. In the work presented here, rate coefficients, k, for the gas-phase reaction of the OH radical with six MPHEs commonly used in commercial mixtures (isomers and stereoisomers) and their deuterated analogs (d3-MPHE) were determined at 296 K using a relative rate method with combined gas-chromatography/IR spectroscopy detection. A range of OH rate coefficient values was observed, up to a factor of 20× different, between the MPHE isomers with the (E)-stereoisomers exhibiting the greatest reactivity. The measured OH reaction rate coefficients for the d3-MPHE isomers were lower than the observed MPHE values although a large range of k values between isomers was still observed. The reduction in reactivity with deuteration signifies that the MPHE + OH reaction proceeds via both addition to the olefinic C=C bond and H-abstraction from the methyl ester group. OH addition to the C=C bond was determined to be the primary reaction channel. Atmospheric lifetimes with respect to the OH reaction for the six MPHE isomers were found to be in the range of days to months. The short lifetimes indicate that MPHE use will primarily impact tropospheric local and regional air quality. A MPHE atmospheric degradation mechanism will be presented. As part of this work, radiative efficiencies and global warming potentials (GWPs) for the MPHE isomers were estimated based on measured infrared absorption spectra of MPHE mixture samples and infrared spectra calculated theoretically. Here the calculated GWPs for the MPHE isomers are considered to be estimates, as the actual GWPs for short-lived gases will depend greatly on the season and location of their emission. The results presented highlight the importance of quantifying the individual component atmospheric fate for all mixture components when assessing the atmospheric behavior of mixtures.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.A23A0195J
- Keywords:
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- 0317 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Chemical kinetic and photochemical properties