Response : Sulfur Mobilization as a Result of Fossil Fuel Combustion

Science ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 175 (4027) ◽  
pp. 1279-1279
Author(s):  
K. K. Bertine ◽  
Edward D. Goldberg
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 7695-7710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Takahashi ◽  
T. Furukawa ◽  
Y. Kanai ◽  
M. Uematsu ◽  
G. Zheng ◽  
...  

Abstract. Atmospheric iron (Fe) can be a significant source of nutrition for phytoplankton inhabiting remote oceans, which in turn has a large influence on the Earth's climate. The bioavailability of Fe in aerosols depends mainly on the fraction of soluble Fe (= [FeSol]/[FeTotal], where [FeSol] and [FeTotal] are the atmospheric concentrations of soluble and total Fe, respectively). However, the numerous factors affecting the soluble Fe fraction have not been fully understood. In this study, the Fe species, chemical composition, and soluble Fe concentrations in aerosols collected in Tsukuba, Japan were investigated over a year (nine samples from December 2002 to October 2003) to identify the factors affecting the amount of soluble Fe supplied into the ocean. The soluble Fe concentration in aerosols is correlated with those of sulfate and oxalate originated from anthropogenic sources, suggesting that soluble Fe is mainly derived from anthropogenic sources. Moreover, the soluble Fe concentration is also correlated with the enrichment factors of vanadium and nickel emitted by fossil fuel combustion. These results suggest that the degree of Fe dissolution is influenced by the magnitude of anthropogenic activity, such as fossil fuel combustion. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was performed in order to identify the Fe species in aerosols. Fitting of XAFS spectra coupled with micro X-ray fluorescence analysis (μ-XRF) showed the main Fe species in aerosols in Tsukuba to be illite, ferrihydrite, hornblende, and Fe(III) sulfate. Moreover, the soluble Fe fraction in each sample measured by leaching experiments is closely correlated with the Fe(III) sulfate fraction determined by the XAFS spectrum fitting, suggesting that Fe(III) sulfate is the main soluble Fe in the ocean. Another possible factor that can control the amount of soluble Fe supplied into the ocean is the total Fe(III) concentration in the atmosphere, which was high in spring due to the high mineral dust concentrations during spring in East Asia. However, this factor does not contribute to the amount of soluble Fe to a larger degree than the effect of Fe speciation, or more strictly speaking the presence of Fe(III) sulfate. Therefore, based on these results, the most significant factor influencing the amount of soluble Fe in the North Pacific region is the concentration of anthropogenic Fe species such as Fe(III) sulfate that can be emitted from megacities in Eastern Asia.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Hatanaka ◽  
Nobukazu Ido ◽  
Takuya Ito ◽  
Ryota Uemichi ◽  
Minoru Tagami ◽  
...  

Boiler piping of fossil-fuel combustion power generation plants are exposed to high-temperature and high-pressure environments, and failure of high-energy piping due to creep damage has been a concern. Therefore, a precise creep damage assessment method is needed. This paper proposes a nondestructive method for creep damage detection of piping in fossil-fuel combustion power generation plants by ultrasonic testing. Ultrasonic signals are transformed to signals in a frequency domain by Fourier transform, and a specific frequency band is chosen. To determine the creep damage, the spectrum intensities are calculated. Calculated intensities have a good correlation to life consumption of the weld joints, and this method is able to predict the remaining life of high-temperature piping, which has been already installed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Ni ◽  
Ru-Jin Huang ◽  
Ulrike Dusek

<p>To investigate the sources and formation mechanisms of carbonaceous aerosols, a major contributor to severe particulate air pollution, radiocarbon (<span><sup>14</sup>C</span>) measurements were conducted on aerosols sampled from November 2015 to November 2016 in Xi'an, China. Based on the <span><sup>14</sup>C</span> content in elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC) and water-insoluble OC (WIOC), contributions of major sources to carbonaceous aerosols are estimated over a whole seasonal cycle: primary and secondary fossil sources, primary biomass burning, and other non-fossil carbon formed mainly from secondary processes. Primary fossil sources of EC were further sub-divided into coal and liquid fossil fuel combustion by complementing <span><sup>14</sup>C</span> data with stable carbon isotopic signatures.</p><p>The dominant EC source was liquid fossil fuel combustion (i.e., vehicle emissions), accounting for 64 % (median; 45 %–74 %, interquartile range) of EC in autumn, 60 % (41 %–72 %) in summer, 53 % (33 %–69 %) in spring and 46 % (29 %–59 %) in winter. An increased contribution from biomass burning to EC was observed in winter (<span>∼28</span> %) compared to other seasons (warm period; <span>∼15</span> %). In winter, coal combustion (<span>∼25</span> %) and biomass burning equally contributed to EC, whereas in the warm period, coal combustion accounted for a larger fraction of EC than biomass burning. The relative contribution of fossil sources to OC was consistently lower than that to EC, with an annual average of <span>47±4</span> %. Non-fossil OC of secondary origin was an important contributor to total OC (<span>35±4</span> %) and accounted for more than half of non-fossil OC (<span>67±6</span> %) throughout the year. Secondary fossil OC (SOC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span>) concentrations were higher than primary fossil OC (POC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span>) concentrations in winter but lower than POC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> in the warm period.</p><p>Fossil WIOC and water-soluble OC (WSOC) have been widely used as proxies for POC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> and SOC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span>, respectively. This assumption was evaluated by (1) comparing their mass concentrations with POC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> and SOC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> and (2) comparing ratios of fossil WIOC to fossil EC to typical primary OC-to-EC ratios from fossil sources including both coal combustion and vehicle emissions. The results suggest that fossil WIOC and fossil WSOC are probably a better approximation for primary and secondary fossil OC, respectively, than POC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> and SOC<span><sub>fossil</sub></span> estimated using the EC tracer method.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 30627-30663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Wang ◽  
J. Chappellaz ◽  
P. Martinerie ◽  
K. Park ◽  
V. Petrenko ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present a 60-yr record of atmospheric CO concentration and stable isotopic ratios at high northern latitude based on firn air samples collected in the frame of the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) project. Concentration, δ13C, and δ18O of CO from trapped gases in the firn were measured by gas chromatography coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (gc-IRMS). Using models of trace gas transport in firn, the long-term trend of atmospheric CO and its stable isotopic composition at high northern latitudes since the 1950s were reconstructed. Our best firn air scenarios suggest that δ13C decreased slightly from −25.8‰ in 1950 to −26.4‰ in 2000, then dropped to −27.2‰ in 2008. δ18O decreased more regularly from 9.8‰ in 1950 to 7.1‰ in 2008. The best firn air scenarios also suggest that CO concentration increased gradually from 1950 and peaked likely in the late-1970s, followed by a gradual decrease by present day (Petrenko et al., 2011). An isotope mass balance model is applied to quantify the temporal evolution of CO source partitioning able to explain the combined mixing ratio and isotopic ratio changes. It suggests that a slight increase followed by a large reduction in CO derived from fossil fuel combustion occurred since 1950. The increase of CO concentration from 1950 to the mid-1970s is the result of a combined increase of multiple sources. The reduction of CO emission from fossil fuel combustion after the mid-1970s is the most plausible mechanism for the drop of CO concentration during this time. The mitigation policy for CO emission from vehicle exhaust such as application of catalytic converters and the growth of diesel engine vehicles market share are the main expected reasons for the CO source strength change from fossil fuel combustion.


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