Abstract. Air pollution from ship exhaust gas can be reduced by the
establishment of emission control areas (ECAs). Efficient supervision of
ship emissions is currently a major concern of maritime authorities. In this
study, a measurement system for exhaust gas from ships based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was designed and developed. Sensors were mounted on the UAV
to measure the concentrations of SO2 and CO2 in order to calculate
the fuel sulfur content (FSC) of ships. The Waigaoqiao port in the Yangtze
River Delta, an ECA in China, was selected for monitoring compliance with
FSC regulations. Unlike in situ or airborne measurements, the proposed
measurement system could be used to determine the smoke plume at about 5 m
from the funnel mouth of ships, thus providing a means for estimating the
FSC of ships. In order to verify the accuracy of these measurements, fuel
samples were collected at the same time and sent to the laboratory for
chemical examination, and these two types of measurements were compared.
After 23 comparative experiments, the results showed that, in general, the
deviation of the estimated value for FSC was less than 0.03 % (m/m) at an
FSC level ranging from 0.035 % (m/m) to 0.24 % (m/m). Hence, UAV
measurements can be used for monitoring of ECAs for compliance with FSC
regulations.
Monitoring of compliance with fuel sulfur content regulations through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) measurements of ship emissions