Field monitoring of volatile organic compounds using passive air samplers in an industrial city in Japan

Highly portable, sensitive, and selective passive air samplers were used to investigate ambient volatile organic compound (VOC) levels at multiple sampling sites in an industrial city, Fuji, Japan. We determined the spatial distributions of 27 species of VOCs in three campaigns: Mar (cold season), May (warm season), and Nov (mild season) of 2004. In all campaigns, toluene (geometric mean concentration, 14.0microg/m3) was the most abundant VOC, followed by acetaldehyde (4.76microg/m3), and formaldehyde (2.58microg/m3). The spatial distributions for certain VOCs showed characteristic patterns: high concentrations of benzene and formaldehyde were typically found along major roads, whereas high concentrations of toluene and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were usually found near factories. The spatial distribution of PCE observed was extremely consistent with the diffusion pattern calculated from Pollutant Release and Transfer Register data and meteorological data, indicated that passive air samplers are useful for determining the sources and distributions of ambient VOCs.     

Co-combustion of dried sewage sludge and coal in a pulverized coal boiler

More than 1.1 million tons of municipal and industrial sewage sludge is produced annually in Poland. Most of this sewage sludge is landfilled or used for recultivation and fertilization of soil. After accession of Poland to the EU, large investments are planned for wastewater treatment, so it is expected that the amount of sewage sludge produced in Poland will grow in the near future. It is well known that the combustion of sewage sludge is becoming a more and more popular utilization method of such waste. Unfortunately, the current situation in Poland makes it impossible to incinerate the sewage sludge because of a lack of incinerators. One possible solution for Poland is the co-firing of dried sewage sludge in existing coal-fired utility boilers. This article presents results of initial Polish industrial trials of dried municipal sewage sludge and hard coal co-combustion in an OP-230 pulverized coal boiler. Such a solution was shown to be technically viable and not to require changes to the existing technological system. Cocombustion of sewage sludge with coal in power plants seems to be the best solution for sludge utilization in the near future in Poland.     

Applying integrated assessment methodologies to air quality plans: Two European cases

Air pollution Integrated Assessment Models (IAM) can be used for determining how emissions should be reduced to improve air quality and to protect human health in a cost-efficient way. The application of IAM is also useful to spread information to the general public and to explain the effectiveness of proposed Air Quality Plans. In this paper, the application of the RIAT+ system to determine suitable abatement measures to improve the air quality at a regional/local level is presented for two European cases: the Brussels Capital Region (Belgium) and the Porto Urban Area (Portugal). Both regions are affected with PM10 or NO₂ concentrations that exceed the limit values specified by the European Union legislation. To properly assess air quality abatement measures a surrogate model was used, allowing the implementation of an efficient optimization procedure. This model is derived in both cases through a set of simulations performed using a Chemistry Transport Model fed with different emission reduction scenarios. In addition, internal costs (due to the implementation of emission reduction measures) and external costs (due to population exposure to air pollutant concentrations) of policy options were considered. The application of this integrated assessment modelling system in scenario (Brussels case) and optimization (Porto) modes contributes to identifying some advantages and limitations of these two approaches and also provides some guidance when urban air quality has to be assessed.     

安钢第二炼轧厂转炉炼钢粉尘处理

介绍了安钢第二炼轧厂转炉炼钢采用脉冲布袋除尘回收与利用、工作原理、和减少对环境污染排放。     

鄱阳湖流域排污权初始分配模式的比较研究

排污权初始分配是排污权交易的起点和基础,在分配模式和实证研究方面需要加强。采用地区人口法、经济总量法、历史排污量法、环境容量法和综合分配法5种模式研究了鄱阳湖流域11个地市水污染物化学需氧量(COD)与氨氮的初始排污权分配。结果表明:COD和氨氮初始排污权在地市之间的分配格局相似;南昌、新余与鹰潭3市按经济总量模式分配的排污量明显高于其它模式,上饶、吉安两市人口分配模式高于其它模式,景德镇、九江两市历史排污量模式高于其它模式,赣州市环境容量模式高于其它模式,宜春市综合模式高于其它模式。综合分配模式为赣州市排污权总量最高,南昌、九江、吉安、宜春、抚州和上饶6市次之,景德镇、萍乡、新余、鹰潭4市最低。总体来看,排污权配额因分配模式不同而有所差异,综合分配模式得到的初始排污权最为合理。建议鄱阳湖流域严格执行综合分配模式下的各地市初始排污权分配额度,确保区域经济社会与生态环境的协调发展。     

建立PM2.5排污权交易框架的研究

化学需氧量、氨氮、二氧化硫、氮氧化物的排污权交易在我国已经开展试点工作,但是PM2.5排污权交易在我国尚未开展试点工作。本文根据国内外排污权交易的经验,以及其他污染物排放总量控制目标和我国的实际情况,分析了建立PM2.5排污权交易的必要性,并提出了初步构建PM2.5排污权交易的框架,为今后开展PM2.5排污权交易试点工作提供了理论基础。     

PCDD/F enviromental impact from municipal solid waste bio-drying plant

The present work indentifies some environmental and health impacts of a municipal solid waste bio-drying plant taking into account the PCDD/F release into the atmosphere, its concentration at ground level and its deposition. Four scenarios are presented for the process air treatment and management: biofilter or regenerative thermal oxidation treatment, at two different heights. A Gaussian dispersion model, AERMOD, was used in order to model the dispersion and deposition of the PCDD/F emissions into the atmosphere. Considerations on health risk, from different exposure pathways are presented using an original approach. The case of biofilter at ground level resulted the most critical, depending on the low dispersion of the pollutants. Suggestions on technical solutions for the optimization of the impact are presented.     

Estimation and characterization of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs from Chinese iron foundries

The iron foundry industry is considered to be a potential source of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). This study investigated the emission factors and total emission amounts of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) from iron foundries in China. The concentrations and the World Health Organization toxicity equivalents (WHO-TEQs) are presented and the congener profiles are discussed in this paper.In the present work, 26 fly ash samples were collected and tested to quantify the PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs generated by 14 plants of different scales, and five stack gas samples were collected from two (named as EFG and LFG) of those plants. The emission levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs indicated that hot-air cupolas had lower emissions than cold-air cupolas. When iron ore lump and sinter were used as raw material, the emission factors were about 250 ng TEQ t⁻¹ of product. However, if the raw material was scrap, the emission factors varied owing to the different contents of organic materials in the raw materials. It was found that the mean WHO-TEQ values of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs were 144 and 34.2 pg Nm⁻³ in stack gas and 20.0 and 1.58 pg g⁻¹ in fly ash. In multiple tests, it was estimated that the mean emission factors of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs were 365 and 10.9 ng WHO-TEQ t⁻¹ released to residue and 2719 and 555 ng TEQ t⁻¹ released to air. The total emission amounts of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs from Chinese iron foundries with cupola furnaces released to residue and air were 16.8 and 146 g WHO-TEQ in 2008, respectively.     

Global and regional abatement costs of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and of enhanced action to levels well below 2 °C and 1.5 °C

As part of the Paris climate agreement, countries have submitted (Intended) Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which includes greenhouse gas reduction proposals beyond 2020. In this paper, we apply the IMAGE integrated assessment model to estimate the annual abatement costs of achieving the NDC reduction targets, and the additional costs if countries would take targets in line with keeping global warming well below 2 °C and “pursue efforts” towards 1.5 °C. We have found that abatement costs are very sensitive to socio-economic assumptions: under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 3 (SSP3) assumptions of slow economic growth, rapidly growing population, and high inequality, global abatement costs of achieving the unconditional NDCs are estimated at USD135 billion by 2030, which is more than twice the level as under the more sustainable socio-economic assumptions of SSP1. Furthermore, we project that the additional costs of full implementation of the conditional NDCs are substantial, ranging from 40 to 55 billion USD, depending on socio-economic assumptions. Of the ten major emitting economies, Brazil, Canada and the USA are projected to have the highest cots as share of GDP to implement the conditional NDCs, while the costs for Japan, China, Russia, and India are relatively low. Allowing for emission trading could decrease global costs substantially, by more than half for the unconditional NDCs and almost by half for the conditional NDCs. Finally, the required effort in terms of abatement costs of achieving 2030 emission levels consistent with 2 °C pathways would be at least three times higher than the costs of achieving the conditional NDCs – even though reductions need to be twice as much. For 1.5 °C, the costs would be 5–6 times as high.     

Emission characterization of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants from iron ore sintering process in China

Emission of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (Unintentional POPs), including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) and pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz), were investigated in four typical iron ore sintering plants in China. The emission factors and annual mass releases of the Unintentional POPs were calculated. The results indicated that PCDFs contributed more than 60% to the overall toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) values, while the contribution of the dl-PCBs is relatively low, and only in the range of 8-9%. The dominant congeners of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs contributing most to the total TEQ were 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and PCB-126. With regard to the TEQ contributions, the most abundant homologues were PeCDFs and HxCDD/Fs, followed by PeCDDs and non-ortho dl-PCB, whereas HpCDD/Fs, OCDD/Fs and mono-ortho dl-PCBs almost made no contributions. Due to the massive use of recycled waste in the feeding materials, the average emission factor of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs of the four plants was 3.95 μg WHO-TEQ ton⁻¹. Based on the results, the annual release of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in 2007-2009 were estimated to be 2070 g, 2212 g, and 2307 g WHO-TEQ, respectively.