On-line mass spectrometric analysis of pollutants

A molecular beam TOF-MS apparatus purposely designed for aerosol analysis was tested for the qualitative analysis of main combustion products from H2 to benzene in atmospheric pressure flames. The TOF-MS experimental data were compared with on-line GC-FID and GC-TCD results and good agreement was found, testifying the reliability of the TOF-MS technique for real-time aerosol analysis. The work will be extended in the future for analysing PAH and heavier molecular weight species that can have an important role in soot inception.