scholarly journals Environmental Benefits of Ultra-Low Emission (ULE) Technology Applied in China

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1693
Author(s):  
Xiaomiao Jiao ◽  
Ruijing Ni ◽  
Lulu Chen ◽  
Jamiu Adetayo Adeniran ◽  
Hongjian Weng ◽  
...  

Seven scenarios were designed to study the national environmental benefits of ULE in coal-fired power plants (CPPs), ULE in industrial coal burning (ICB) and NH3 emission reduction by using the GEOS-Chem model. The results showed that although the CPPs have achieved the ULE transformation target, the PM2.5 concentration across the country has decreased by 4.8% (1.4 μg/m3). Due to the complex non-linear chemical competition mechanism among nitrate and sulfate, the average concentration of nitrate in the country has increased by 1.5% (0.1 μg/m3), which has reduced the environmental benefits of the power plant emission reduction. If the ULE technology is applied to the ICB to further reduce NOx and SO2, although the PM2.5 concentration can be reduced by 10.1% (2.9 μg/m3), the concentration of nitrate will increase by 2.7% (0.2 μg/m3). Based on the CPPs-ULE, NH3 emissions reduced by 30% and 50% can significantly reduce the concentration of ammonium and nitrate, so that the PM2.5 concentration is decreased by 11.5% (3.3 μg/m3) and 16.5% (4.7 μg/m3). Similarly, based on the CPPs-ICB-ULE, NH3 emissions can be reduced by 30% and 50% and the PM2.5 concentration reduced by 15.6% (4.4 μg/m3) and 20.3% (5.8 μg/m3). The CPPs and ICB use the ULE technology to reduce NOx and SO2, thereby reducing the concentration of ammonium and sulfate, causing the PM2.5 concentration to decline, and NH3 reduction is mainly achieved through reducing the concentration of ammonium and nitrate to reduce the concentration of PM2.5. In order to better reduce the concentration of PM2.5, NOx, SO2 and NH3 emission reduction control measures should be comprehensively considered in different regions of China. By comprehensively considering the economic cost and environmental benefits of ULE in ICB and NH3 emission reduction, an optimal haze control scheme can be determined.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Thunis ◽  
Alain Clappier ◽  
Matthias Beekmann ◽  
Jean Philippe Putaud ◽  
Cornelis Cuvelier ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air pollution is one of the main causes of damages to human health in Europe with an estimate of about 380 000 premature deaths per year in the EU28, as the result of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) only. In this work, we focus on one specific region in Europe, the Po basin, a region where chemical regimes are the most complex, showing important non-linear processes, especially those related to interactions between NOx and NH3. We analyse the sensitivities of PM2.5 to NOx and NH3 emissions by means of a set of EMEP simulations performed with different levels of emission reductions, from 25 % up to a total switch-off of those emissions. Both single and combined precursor reduction scenarios are applied to determine the most efficient emission reduction strategies and quantify the interactions between NOx and NH3 emission reductions. The results confirmed the peculiarity of secondary PM2.5 formation in the Po basin, characterised by contrasting chemical regimes within distances of few (hundreds of) kilometres, as well as strong non-linear responses to emission reductions during wintertime. One of the striking results is the increase of the PM2.5 concentration levels when NOx emission reductions are applied in NOx-rich areas, such as the surroundings of Bergamo. The increased oxidative capacity of the atmosphere is the cause of the increase of PM2.5 induced by a reduction in NOx emission. This process can have contributed to the absence of significant PM2.5 concentration decrease during the COVID-19 lockdowns in many European cities. It is important to account for this process when designing air quality plans, since it could well lead to transitionary increases in PM2.5 at some locations in winter as NOx emission reduction measures are gradually implemented. While PM2.5 responses to NOx and NH3 emission reduction show large variations seasonally and spatially, these responses remain close to linear, i.e. proportional to the emission reduction levels, at least up to −50 % because secondary aerosol formation chemical regimes are not modified by those relatively moderate ranges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10968
Author(s):  
Juihui Chen ◽  
Xiaoqiong Feng ◽  
Yonghui Zhu ◽  
Ling Huang ◽  
Min He ◽  
...  

To continuously improve air quality, after implementation of the “Clean Air Action Plan, 2013–2017” (CAAP), the “Three-year Action Plan to Fight Air Pollution” (TYP) was further conducted from 2018 to 2020. However, the effectiveness of the TYP remains unclear in one of the major city-clusters of China, the Sichuan Basin. In this study, the bottom-up method was used to quantify the emission reduction during TYP based on the emissions inventory in Sichuan Basin in 2017 and the air pollution control measures adopted from 2018 to 2020 in each city. The reduction of PM2.5 concentration and the avoided premature deaths due to implementation of air pollution control measures were assessed by using an integrated meteorology and air quality modeling system and a concentration-response algorithm. Emissions of SO2, NOx, PM2.5, and VOCs in the Sichuan Basin have been reduced by 42.6, 105.2, 40.2, and 136.6 Gg, respectively. The control of non-electricity industry contributed significantly to the emission reduction of all pollutants, accounting for 26–49%. In addition, the control of mobile sources contributes the most to NOx reductions, accounting for 57%. The results illustrate that the focus of air pollution control in Sichuan Basin is still industrial sources. We also found that the emission reduction of NOx, PM2.5, and VOCs in Chengdu is significantly higher than that of other cities, which were about 3.4~15.4 times, 2.2~40.1 times, and 4.3~24.4 times that of other cities, respectively. In Sichuan Basin, the average reduction rate of PM2.5 concentration due to air pollution control measures was 5% on average, with the highest contributions from industry, mobile source, and dust emission control. The decrease rate in each city ranges between 1~10%, and the decreasing ratios in Dazhou (10%), Chengdu (8%), and Zigong (7%) are relatively higher. The number of premature deaths avoided due to air pollution control measures in Sichuan Basin is estimated to be 22,934. Chengdu and Dazhou have benefitted most from the air pollution control measures, with 6043 and 2713 premature deaths avoided, respectively. Our results indicate that the implementation of TYP has achieved remarkable environmental and health benefits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Jiang ◽  
Adila Alimujiang ◽  
Hongjia Dong ◽  
Xiaoyu Yan

China’s electric power industry contributes a significant amount of carbon emissions as well as air pollutants such as SO2, NOx, and fine particles. In order to detect co-benefits of carbon reduction and air pollution control, this study analyzed the emission reduction, emission reduction factors, and synergistic effect factors of technical and structural emission reduction measures in the electric power industry in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Yunnan provinces and Shanghai City. The main findings are: (1) the structural emission reduction measures in all four regions had positive co-control effects. Therefore, promoting renewables can achieve remarkable co-benefits; (2) the result demonstrated that the direct removal ability of pollutants by technical emission reduction measures was better than the structural emission reduction measures in all four case studies. However, there were no or few carbon reduction co-benefits associated with their utilization; (3) in all cases, CO2 had the highest emission factor value, which means that there is still room for synergistic carbon reduction; (4) air pollutants and CO2 emission intensity from the Yunnan power plants were much higher than that of the other three regions. In order to achieve the overall co-benefits, co-control measures should be promoted and strengthened in western areas such as Yunnan.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 16047-16112 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Zhao ◽  
S. X. Wang ◽  
J. Y. Xu ◽  
K. Fu ◽  
Z. Klimont ◽  
...  

Abstract. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are key pollutants for the improvement of ambient air quality. Within this study we estimated the historical NOx emissions in China for the period 1995–2010, and calculated future NOx emissions every five years until 2030 under six emission scenarios. Driven by the fast growth of energy consumption, we estimate the NOx emissions in China increased rapidly from 11.0 Mt in 1995 to 26.1 Mt in 2010. Power plants, industry and transportation were major sources of NOx emissions, accounting for 28.4, 34.0, and 25.4% of the total NOx emissions in 2010, respectively. Two energy scenarios, a business as usual scenario (BAU) and an alternative policy scenario (PC), were developed to project future energy consumption. In 2030, total energy consumption is projected to increase by 64 and 27% from 2010 level respectively. Three sets of end-of-pipe pollution control measures, including baseline, progressive, and stringent control case, were developed for each energy scenario, thereby constituting six emission scenarios. By 2030, the total NOx emissions are projected to increase (compared to 2010) by 36% in the baseline while policy cases result in reduction up to 61% in the most ambitious case with stringent control measures. More than a third of the reduction achieved by 2030 between least and most ambitious scenario comes from power sector and more than half is distributed equally between industry and transportation sectors. Selective Catalytic Reduction dominates the NOx emission reductions in power plants, while life style changes, control measures for industrial boilers and cement production are major contributors to reductions in industry. Timely enforcement of legislation on heavy duty vehicles would contribute significantly to NOx emission reductions. About 30% of the NOx emission reduction in 2020, and 40% of the NOx emission reduction in 2030 could be treated as the ancillary benefit of energy conservation. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to explore the impact of key factors on future emissions.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guannan Geng ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Dan Tong ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Siwen Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract. We estimated the changes in chemical composition of ambient PM2.5 over China during 2005–2012 using satellite-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) data and the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, and investigated the driving forces behind the changes by examining the changes in precursor emissions using a bottom-up emission inventory. We found that the national population-weighted mean PM2.5 concentration increased from 63.9 μg/m3 in 2005 to 75.2 μg/m3 in 2007 (+18.19 % per year), and subsequently decreased to 66.9 μg/m3 from 2007 to 2012 (−2.67 % per year), composing a flat trend of population-weighted mean PM2.5 concentration during 2005–2012. Variations in PM2.5 concentrations are mainly driven by the changes in sulfate and nitrate concentrations. Population-weighted mean sulfate concentration increased by 10.72 % from 2005–2006 (from 14.4 μg/m3 to 15.9 μg/m3) and then decreased by 4.30 % per year from 2006–2012, dominating the variations of total PM2.5 concentrations. The decrease of sulfate concentration is partly offset by the increase of nitrate concentration: population-weighted mean nitrate concentration increased by 3.39 % per year during 2005–2012 (from 9.8 μg/m3 to 12.2 μg/m3). The changes in sulfate and nitrate concentrations were in line with the changes in SO2 and NOx emissions during the same period. By examining the emission data from the MEIC emission inventory, we found that the desulfurization regulation enforced around 2005 in power plants was the primary contributor to the SO2 emissions reduction since 2006. In contrast, growth of energy consumption and lack of control measures for NOx resulted in persistent increase in NOx emissions until the installation of denitrification devices on power plants late in 2011, which began to take effect in 2012. The results of this work indicate that the synchronized abatement of emissions for multi-pollutants are necessary for reducing ambient PM2.5 concentrations over China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 9309-9327
Author(s):  
Philippe Thunis ◽  
Alain Clappier ◽  
Matthias Beekmann ◽  
Jean Philippe Putaud ◽  
Cornelis Cuvelier ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air pollution is one of the main causes of damages to human health in Europe, with an estimate of about 380 000 premature deaths per year in the EU28, as the result of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) only. In this work, we focus on one specific region in Europe, the Po basin, a region where chemical regimes are the most complex, showing important non-linear processes, especially those related to interactions between NOx and NH3. We analyse the sensitivity of PM2.5 concentration to NOx and NH3 emissions by means of a set of EMEP model simulations performed with different levels of emission reductions, from 25 % up to a total switch-off of those emissions. Both single and combined precursor reduction scenarios are applied to determine the most efficient emission reduction strategies and quantify the interactions between NOx and NH3 emission reductions. The results confirmed the peculiarity of secondary PM2.5 formation in the Po basin, characterised by contrasting chemical regimes within distances of a few (hundred) kilometres, as well as non-linear responses to emission reductions during wintertime. One of the striking results is the slight increase in the PM2.5 concentration levels when NOx emission reductions are applied in NOx-rich areas, such as the surroundings of Bergamo. The increased oxidative capacity of the atmosphere is the cause of the increase in PM2.5 induced by a reduction in NOx emission. This process could have contributed to the absence of a significant PM2.5 concentration decrease during the COVID-19 lockdowns in many European cities. It is important to account for this process when designing air quality plans, since it could well lead to transitionary increases in PM2.5 at some locations in winter as NOx emission reduction measures are gradually implemented. While PM2.5 chemical regimes, determined by the relative importance of the NOx vs. NH3 responses to emission reductions, show large variations seasonally and spatially, they are not very sensitive to moderate (up to 50 %–60 %) emission reductions. Beyond 25 % emission reduction strength, responses of PM2.5 concentrations to NOx emission reductions become non-linear in certain areas of the Po basin mainly during wintertime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1179-1186
Author(s):  
Xiaomiao Jiao ◽  
Xiao Liu ◽  
Yongzheng Gu ◽  
Xinbin Wu ◽  
Shumin Wang ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 9869-9897 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Zhao ◽  
S. X. Wang ◽  
H. Liu ◽  
J. Y. Xu ◽  
K. Fu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are key pollutants for the improvement of ambient air quality. Within this study we estimated the historical NOx emissions in China for the period 1995–2010, and calculated future NOx emissions every five years until 2030 under six emission scenarios. Driven by the fast growth of energy consumption, we estimate the NOx emissions in China increased rapidly from 11.0 Mt in 1995 to 26.1 Mt in 2010. Power plants, industry and transportation were major sources of NOx emissions, accounting for 28.4%, 34.0%, and 25.4% of the total NOx emissions in 2010, respectively. Two energy scenarios, a business as usual scenario (BAU) and an alternative policy scenario (PC), were developed to project future energy consumption. In 2030, total energy consumption is projected to increase by 64% and 27% from 2010 level respectively. Three sets of end-of-pipe pollution control measures, including baseline, progressive, and stringent control case, were developed for each energy scenario, thereby constituting six emission scenarios. By 2030, the total NOx emissions are projected to increase (compared to 2010) by 36% in the baseline while policy cases result in reduction up to 61% in the most ambitious case with stringent control measures. More than a third of the reduction achieved by 2030 between least and most ambitious scenario comes from power sector, and more than half is distributed equally between industry and transportation sectors. Selective catalytic reduction dominates the NOx emission reductions in power plants, while life style changes, control measures for industrial boilers and cement production are major contributors to reductions in industry. Timely enforcement of legislation on heavy-duty vehicles would contribute significantly to NOx emission reductions. About 30% of the NOx emission reduction in 2020 and 40% of the NOx emission reduction in 2030 could be treated as the ancillary benefit of energy conservation. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to explore the impact of key factors on future emissions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2529-2535
Author(s):  
Leixing Tao ◽  
Yanyan Wang ◽  
Chunmei Yue ◽  
Zhigang Shen ◽  
Zhichao Liu ◽  
...  

The ever increasing demand for power is mostly met out by electricity produced with the available resources. One such source where generation of power is by making use of the fossil fuel such as coal. Thermal generation using coal accounts for 69% of the total power produced in India. Flue Gases emitted from coal fired thermal stations consists of CO2,(Carbon-di-oxide),SOx (Oxides of Sulphur), NOx (Oxides of Nitrogen), PM (Particulate matter) along with carbonaceous material, soot and Fly ash. These gaseous pollutants are considered as environmental burden which ultimately results in smog formation, formation of acid rain, eutrophication and global warming which has to be controlled and regulated within the permissible limits as stipulated by MOEF &CC (Ministry of Environmental Forest and Climate Change). This project describes about the analysis of reduction of NOx Emission in Flue Gas of Coal fired thermal stations and the measures to control the NOx emission within the permissible limits for the new thermal power plants by treating the flue gas emitted from the stack. The secondary measure to reduce the NOx emission is achieved by treating the flue gas with urea or ammonia which bring about 90% NOx emission reduction. The application of Low Nox Burner with Over Fire Air Technology along with Selective Catalytic Reduction in the new thermal power plant reduce the emission of NOx to a considerable extent and to meet the norms


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