scholarly journals Seasonality of the Airborne Ambient Soot Predominant Emission Sources Determined by Raman Microspectroscopy and Thermo-Optical Method

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 768
Author(s):  
Natalia Zioła ◽  
Kamila Banasik ◽  
Mariola Jabłońska ◽  
Janusz Janeczek ◽  
Barbara Błaszczak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Optical Transmittance ◽  
Diesel Soot ◽  
Raman Microspectroscopy ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Long Time ◽  
June July ◽  
Measurement Campaigns

Raman microspectroscopy and thermo-optical-transmittance (TOT) method were used to study airborne ambient soot collected at the suburban air monitoring station in southern Poland during the residential heating (January-February) and non-heating (June–July) seasons of 2017. Carbonaceous material constituted on average 47.2 wt.% of PM2.5 during the heating season and 26.9 wt.% in the non-heating season. Average concentrations of OC (37.5 ± 11.0 μg/m3) and EC (5.3 ± 1.1 μg/m3) during the heating season were significantly higher than those in the non-heating season (OC = 2.65 ± 0.78 μg/m3, and EC = 0.39 ± 0.18 μg/m3). OC was a chief contributor to the TC mass concentration regardless of the season. All Raman parameters indicated coal combustion and biomass burning were the predominant sources of soot in the heating season. Diesel soot, which is structurally less ordered than soot from other sources, was dominant during the non-heating season. The D1 and G bands area ratio (D1A/GA) was the most sensitive Raman parameter that discriminated between various soot sources, with D1A/GA > 1 for diesel soot, and less than 1 for soot from coal and wood burning. Due to high daily variability of both TOT and Raman spectroscopy data, single-day measurements can be inconclusive regarding the soot source apportionment. Long-time measurement campaigns are recommended.

scholarly journals The SCALEX Campaign: Scale-Crossing Land Surface and Boundary Layer Processes in the TERENO-preAlpine Observatory

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 1217-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Wolf ◽  
C. Chwala ◽  
B. Fersch ◽  
J. Garvelmann ◽  
W. Junkermann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Soil Variables ◽  
Boundary Layer Processes ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
June July

Abstract ScaleX is a collaborative measurement campaign, collocated with a long-term environmental observatory of the German Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) network in the mountainous terrain of the Bavarian Prealps, Germany. The aims of both TERENO and ScaleX include the measurement and modeling of land surface–atmosphere interactions of energy, water, and greenhouse gases. ScaleX is motivated by the recognition that long-term intensive observational research over years or decades must be based on well-proven, mostly automated measurement systems, concentrated in a small number of locations. In contrast, short-term intensive campaigns offer the opportunity to assess spatial distributions and gradients by concentrated instrument deployments, and by mobile sensors (ground and/or airborne) to obtain transects and three-dimensional patterns of atmospheric, surface, or soil variables and processes. Moreover, intensive campaigns are ideal proving grounds for innovative instruments, methods, and techniques to measure quantities that cannot (yet) be automated or deployed over long time periods. ScaleX is distinctive in its design, which combines the benefits of a long-term environmental-monitoring approach (TERENO) with the versatility and innovative power of a series of intensive campaigns, to bridge across a wide span of spatial and temporal scales. This contribution presents the concept and first data products of ScaleX-2015, which occurred in June–July 2015. The second installment of ScaleX took place in summer 2016 and periodic further ScaleX campaigns are planned throughout the lifetime of TERENO. This paper calls for collaboration in future ScaleX campaigns or to use our data in modelling studies. It is also an invitation to emulate the ScaleX concept at other long-term observatories.

Improving PM2.5 modelling results through development of the new hourly temporal emission profile – a case study of Poland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Kryza ◽  
Małgorzata Werner ◽  
Justyna Dudek
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Emission Profile ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10

<p>High concentrations of atmospheric aerosols with aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 mm (PM2.5) are frequently observed in several Central European countries during the heating season (October – March). Poland belongs to a group of EU countries with the highest concentrations of PM2.5, according to the European Environmental Agency. Large exposure to atmospheric pollutants leads to significant number of premature deaths attributable to adverse air quality in Poland.</p><p>Coal combustion for residential heating is one of the main sources of PM2.5 in Poland. The quality of this fuel is often unknown, and this increases the uncertainty of national emission inventories and makes the modelling of PM2.5 concentrations challenging. Second, daily temporal emission profile (i.e. hours of the day when emission is released to the atmosphere) in residential heating sector is also rather uncertain. In this work, we developed a daily temporal emission profile using available measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from the 2017-2018 heating season. The profile was compared with the existing profile proposed within the INERIS project. New profile has longer peak of afternoon and night time emission, if compared to INERIS, and the morning peak is significantly lower. It means that more emission is released to the atmosphere during unfavorable meteorological conditions such as calm winds and temperature inversions, which are frequently observed during the afternoon and night.</p><p>We have run two simulations using the EMEP4PL model with new and old (INERIS) emission profile. The simulations covered three heating seasons of 2015-2016, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Application of the new emission profile results in increased model – measurements correlation and reduced model bias.</p>

scholarly journals Long-time optical transmittance measurements of silica nanofibers

2020 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 08011
Author(s):  
Maha Bouhadida ◽  
Sylvie Lebrun
Keyword(s):  
Optical Transmittance ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Dramatic Decrease ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Fundamental Reason ◽  
Silica Nanofibers

We perform long-time measurements of the optical silica transmittance during several months in different environments and with different nanofiber lengths. These measurements are repeatable and give guidelines to control and to improve the lifetime and the performances of the nanofiber. The dust particles on the nanofiber surface is the fundamental reason behind its degradation. Enhancing the cleanness conditions of the nanofiber environment makes its lifetime increases significantly (from some hours to some months) and enables to avoid the dramatic decrease of its transmittance even after months. The nanofiber length does not contribute to the nanofiber transmittance degradation. Stabilizing the nanofiber transmittance after its decrease is possible by putting in in a dust free box.

scholarly journals BIOCHAR FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL AND ROCK WITH ACID POTENTIAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 06005
Author(s):  
Erlend Sørmo ◽  
Erika Kämäräinen ◽  
Matilda Edvardsson ◽  
Christian Maurice
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Buffer Capacity ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Hydrothermal Carbonization ◽  
Ph Control ◽  
Secondary Mineral ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sulphide Minerals ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Acid Potential

Biochar is a carbonaceous material generated by the heating of organic matter under limited access to oxygen (called pyrolysis). While pyrolysis is applied to dry feed, hydrothermal carbonization can be used for wet materials such as sludge. Application of biochar to soil is considered inherent climate friendly since biochar remain stable in the soil for a long time, and thus removing carbon from the short-term carbon cycle. Biochar has the ability to adsorb trace elements and raise pH, when added to soil or/and water. Geomaterials, both soil and rock, containing sulphur in the form of sulphide minerals have the potential to harm the environment. Lowering groundwater in sulphide rich soils and disposal of excavated sulphide rich soil and rock in piles are example of situations where measures have to be taken to mitigate the formation of acid leachate. This presentation aims at presenting the results from two studies where biochar’s capacity to adsorb trace elements is investigated. In the first study, the adsorption capacity of several biochars was compared with leachate generated from the oxidation of sulphide soil, showing a significant decrease of the concentration of elements such as copper and zinc. In the second study, the ability of waste timber biochar to stabilize the leaching from sulphide rich gneisses containing readily soluble, oxidized secondary mineral crusts was investigated. Preliminary results show that the acidity of the oxidized gneisses exceeds the buffer capacity of the biochars, resulting in an acidic, metal rich leachate. Rather reducing metal leaching through sorption and pH control, metals from the biochar matrix are released, resulting in an increased release of metals compared to the control.

scholarly journals Characterization and source apportionment of organic aerosol at 260 m on a meteorological tower in Beijing, China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhou ◽  
Qingqing Wang ◽  
Xiujuan Zhao ◽  
Weiqi Xu ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Average Mass ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Combustion Emissions

Abstract. Despite extensive efforts into characterization of submicron aerosols at ground level in the megacity of Beijing, our understanding of aerosol sources and processes at high altitudes remains less understood. Here we conducted a three-month real-time measurement of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM1) species at a height of 260 m from 10 October 2014 to 18 January 2015 using an aerosol chemical speciation monitor. Our results showed a significant change in aerosol composition from non-heating period (NHP) to heating season (HP). Organics and chloride showed clear increases during HP due to coal combustion emissions, while nitrate showed substantial decreases from 28 % to 15–18 %. We also found that NR-PM1 species in heating season can have average mass differences of 30–44 % under similar emission sources yet different meteorological conditions. Multi-linear engine 2 (ME-2) using three primary organic aerosol (OA) factors, i.e., fossil fuel-related OA (FFOA) dominantly from coal combustion emissions, cooking OA (COA), biomass burning OA (BBOA) resolved from ground high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer measurements as constrains was performed to OA mass spectra of ACSM. Two types of secondary OA (SOA) that were well correlated with nitrate and chloride/CO, respectively, were identified. SOA played a dominant role in OA during all periods at 260 m although the contributions were decreased from 72 % during NHP to 58–64 % during HP. The SOA composition also changed significantly from NHP to HP. While the contribution of oxygenated OA (OOA) was decreased from 56–63 % to 32–40 %, less oxidized OOA (LO-OOA) showed a large increase from 9–16 % to 24–26 %. COA contributed a considerable fraction of OA at high altitude, and the contribution was relatively similar across different periods (10–13 %). In contrast, FFOA showed a large increase during HP due to the influences of coal combustion emissions. We also observed very different OA composition between ground level and 260 m. Particularly, the contributions of COA and BBOA at ground site were nearly twice those at 260 m, while SOA at 260 m was ~ 15–34 % higher than that at ground level. Bivariate polar plots and back trajectory analysis further illustrated the different source regions of OA factors in different seasons.

Coal

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-119
Author(s):  
Paul F. Meier
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pulverized Coal ◽  
Ground Level Ozone ◽  
Energy Applications ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Coal Technology

Coal has two main energy applications, with about 90% used for electricity generation and 10% used for commercial and residential heating. In terms of electricity generation in the United States, coal is responsible for about 28%, a significant decrease from 53% twenty years earlier when it was the leading energy for producing electricity. There are two primary commercial methods for generating electricity from coal including pulverized coal combustion and fluidized bed coal combustion. To safely burn coal, sulfur, nitrogen, and heavy metals are removed at the electric plant. The sequestering of sulfur and nitrogen are important steps for limiting acid rain and ground level ozone. To generate electricity, the United States has about 360 coal plants with about 790 generators, of which greater than 90% use pulverized coal technology. Most coal is transported by rail.

scholarly journals Source apportionment of organic aerosol from two-year highly time-resolved measurements by an aerosol chemical speciation monitor in Beijing, China

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yele Sun ◽  
Weiqi Xu ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Qi Jiang ◽  
Francesco Canonaco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Seasonal Variations ◽  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Chemical Speciation ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Mass Loading ◽  
Heating Season

Abstract. Organic aerosol (OA) represents a large fraction of submicron aerosols in the megacity of Beijing, yet long-term characterization of its sources and variations is very limited. Here we present analysis of in situ measurements of OA in submicrometer particles with an aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) for two years from July 2011 to May 2013. The sources of OA are analyzed with multilinear engine (ME-2) by constraining three primary OA factors including fossil fuel related OA (FFOA), cooking OA (COA), and biomass burning OA (BBOA). Two secondary OA (SOA), representing a less oxidized oxygenated OA (LO-OOA) and a more oxidized (MO-OOA) are identified during all seasons. The monthly average concentration OA varied from 13.6 to 46.7 µg m−3 with a strong seasonal pattern that is usually highest in winter and lowest in summer. FFOA and BBOA show similarly pronounced seasonal variations with much higher concentrations and contributions in winter due to enhanced coal combustion and biomass burning emissions. The contribution of COA to OA, however, is relatively stable (10–15 %) across different seasons, yet presents significantly higher values at low relative humidity levels (RH < 30 %), highlighting the important role of COA during clean periods. The two SOA factors present very different seasonal variations. The pronounced enhancement of LO-OOA concentrations in winter indicates that emissions form combustion-related primary emissions could be a considerable source of SOA under low temperature (T) conditions. Comparatively, MO-OOA shows high concentrations consistently at high RH levels across different T levels, and the contribution of MO-OOA to OA is different seasonally with lower values occurring more in winter (30–34 %) than other seasons (47–64 %). Overall, SOA (= LO-OOA + MO-OOA) dominates OA composition during all seasons by contributing 52–64 % of the total OA mass in heating season, and 65–75 % in non-heating seasons. The variations of OA composition as a function of OA mass loading further illustrates the dominant role of SOA in OA across different mass loading scenarios during all seasons. However, we also observed a large increase in FFOA associated with a corresponding decrease in MO-OOA during periods with high OA mass loadings in heating season, illustrating an enhanced role of coal combustion emissions during highly polluted episodes. Potential source contribution function analysis further shows that the transport from the regions located to the south and southwest of Beijing within ~200 km can contribute substantially to high FFOA and BBOA concentrations in heating season.

scholarly journals The Impact of Solid Fuel Residential Boilers Exchange on Particulate Matter Air Pollution

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5400
Author(s):  
Silvie Koval ◽  
Jiri Vytisk ◽  
Jana Ruzickova ◽  
Helena Raclavska ◽  
Hana Skrobankova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Solid Fuel ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Solid Fuels ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Daily Average ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Combustion Processes ◽  
The Impact

Combustion processes, including the use of solid fuels for residential heating, are a widespread custom for many households. Residential heating is a significant source of ambient air pollution, yet it varies greatly by geography, meteorologic conditions, the prevalence of the type of solid fuel and the technologies used. This study evaluates whether residential heating affects the air quality through modelling three given scenarios of solid fuel boiler exchange at selected locations and comparing the results with measured data. The findings of this study suggest that according to the modelled data, the main air pollution contributor is residential heating since Dolni Lhota (daily average of PM10 = 44.13 μg·m−3) and Kravare (daily average of PM10 = 43.98 μg·m−3) are locations with no industry in contrast to heavily industrial Vratimov (daily average of PM10 = 34.38 μg·m−3), which were modelled for the heating season situation. Nevertheless, actual measurements of PM10 during the same period suggest that the average levels of air pollution were significantly higher than the modelled values for Dolni Lhota by 64% and for Kravare by 51%. Thus, it was assumed that PM long-range or/and transboundary transports were involved.

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