Contribution of vehicle emissions from an attached garage to residential indoor air pollution levels

The infiltration of vehicle emissions into a house from the attached garage was studied for 16 homes of differing designs using the same extensively characterized vehicle at each home. Before the in-home measurement program, the cold-start and hot-start tailpipe emissions and hot-soak evaporative emissions from a 1993 Buick Regal were measured using standard vehicle emissions measurement methods. The emissions were chemically characterized for methane, nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and carbonyl compounds. The in-home measurements occurred over two winter seasons (1997-1998 and 1998-1999) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Samples of indoor air and garage atmosphere were characterized for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, NMHC, and carbonyl compounds. During the second year, real-time measurements of carbon, carbon dioxide, and total hydrocarbons were made to determine when and for how long the emissions plume infiltrates the house. Chemical mass balance modeling results using 31 NMHC species suggest that between 9 and 71% of the concentrations measured in the house during the hot-soak test and between 13 and 85% of the concentrations measured in the house during the cold-start test could be attributed to vehicle emissions infiltrating from the garage. In contrast, increases in carbonyl compound concentrations caused by the vehicle were difficult to detect above the already significant levels found in the houses.     

Penetration of Evaporative Emissions into a Home from an M85-Fueled Vehicle Parked in an Attached Garage

ABSTRACT

The use of both oxygenated fuels in carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment areas and reformulated gasoline in ozone nonattainment areas has been mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Methanol has been proposed as an alternative fuel for CO nonattainment areas. Its use will potentially increase indoor methanol inhalation exposure resulting from the evaporation of metha-nol vapor from methanol-fueled vehicles parked in residential garages. Indoor air concentrations of metha-nol, benzene, and toluene were measured in a residential home with an attached garage. The effects of vehicle emission control devices (charcoal canister hose connection); home heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) fans; ambient air, garage, and fuel tank temperatures; and wind speed were examined.

The disconnection of the charcoal canister hose, which simulates a spent evaporative emission control device, resulted in elevated benzene, toluene, and metha-nol concentrations in the garage and attached home. Higher fuel tank temperatures resulted in higher benzene and toluene concentrations in the garage, but not methanol. The concentrations for all compounds in the garage and concentrations of benzene and toluene in the adjacent room were lower when the HVAC fan was on than when it was off, while the concentrations of all three compounds in the rest of the house were higher, although these differences were not statistically significant. Thus, the portion of the population that parks cars in garages attached to homes will experience increased methanol exposures if methanol is used as an automotive fuel.     

A study of emissions from a Euro 4 light duty diesel vehicle with the European particulate measurement programme

The California Air Resources Board, CARB, has participated in a program to quantify particulate matter (PM) emissions with a European methodology, which is known as the Particulate Measurement Programme (PMP). The essence of the PMP methodology is that the diesel PM from a Euro 4 vehicle equipped with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) consists primarily of solid particles with a size range greater than 23 nm. The PMP testing and the enhanced testing performed by CARB have enabled an increased understanding of both the progress that has been made in PM reduction, and the future remaining challenges for new and improved DPF-equipped diesel vehicles. A comparison of measured regulated emissions and solid particle number emissions with the results obtained by the PMP participating international laboratories was a success, and CARB’s measurements and standard deviations compared well with the other laboratories. Enhanced measurements of the influence of vehicle conditioning prior to testing on PM mass and solid particle number results were performed, and some significant influences were discovered. For example, the influence of vehicle preconditioning on particle number results was significant for both the European and USA test driving cycles. However, the trends for the cycles were opposite with one cycle showing an increase and the other cycle showing a decrease in particle number emissions. If solid particle size distribution and total particle numbers are to be used as proposed in PMP, then a greater understanding of the quality and errors associated with measurement technologies is advisable.In general, particle counting instruments gave results with similar trends, but cycle-to-cycle testing variation was observed. Continuous measurements of particle number concentrations during test cycles have given detailed insight into PM generation. At the present time there is significant variation in the capabilities of the particle counting instruments in terms of particle size and concentration.Current measurements show the existence of a large number of volatile and semi-volatile particles of yet-to-be-resolved chemical composition in diesel exhaust, especially during DPF regeneration, and these particles are not included in the PMP methodology because they are smaller than 20 nm. It will be very challenging to improve our understanding of this class of diesel particulate matter.     

Modeling vehicle emissions in different types of Chinese cities: importance of vehicle fleet and local features

We propose a method to simulate vehicle emissions in Chinese cities of different sizes and development stages. Twenty two cities are examined in this study. The target year is 2007. Among the cities, the vehicle emission factors were remarkably different (the highest is 50-90% higher than the lowest) owing to their distinct local features and vehicle technology levels, and the major contributors to total vehicle emissions were also different. A substantial increase in vehicle emissions is foreseeable unless stronger measures are implemented because the benefit of current policies can be quickly offset by the vehicle growth. Major efforts should be focused on all cities, especially developing cities where the requirements are lenient. This work aims a better understanding of vehicle emissions in all types of Chinese cities. The proposed method could benefit national emission inventory studies in improving accuracy and help in designing national and local policies for vehicle emission control.     

Development of molecular marker source profiles for emissions from on-road gasoline and diesel vehicle fleets

As part of the Gasoline/Diesel PM Split Study, relatively large fleets of gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles were tested on a chassis dynamometer to develop chemical source profiles for source attribution of atmospheric particulate matter in California's South Coast Air Basin. Gasoline vehicles were tested in cold-start and warm-start conditions, and diesel vehicles were tested through several driving cycles. Tailpipe emissions of particulate matter were analyzed for organic tracer compounds, including hopanes, steranes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Large intervehicle variation was seen in emission rate and composition, and results were averaged to examine the impacts of vehicle ages, weight classes, and driving cycles on the variation. Average profiles, weighted by mass emission rate, had much lower uncertainty than that associated with intervehicle variation. Mass emission rates and elemental carbon/organic carbon (EC/OC) ratios for gasoline vehicle age classes were influenced most by use of cold-start or warm-start driving cycle (factor of 2-7). Individual smoker vehicles had a large range of mass and EC/OC (factors of 40 and 625, respectively). Gasoline vehicle age averages, data on vehicle ages and miles traveled in the area, and several assumptions about smoker contributions were used to create emissions profiles representative of on-road vehicle fleets in the Los Angeles area in 2001. In the representative gasoline fleet profiles, variation was further reduced, with cold-start or warm-start and the representation of smoker vehicles making a difference of approximately a factor of two in mass emission rate and EC/OC. Diesel vehicle profiles were created on the basis of vehicle age, weight class, and driving cycle. Mass emission rate and EC/OC for diesel averages were influenced by vehicle age (factor of 2-5), weight class (factor of 2-7), and driving cycle (factor of 10-20). Absolute and relative emissions of molecular marker compounds showed levels of variation similar to those of mass and EC/OC.     

Near-roadway monitoring of vehicle emissions as a function of mode of operation for light-duty vehicles

Determination of the effect of vehicle emissions on air quality near roadways is important because vehicles are a major source of air pollution. A near-roadway monitoring program was undertaken in Chicago between August 4 and October 30, 2014, to measure ultrafine particles, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, traffic volume and speed, and wind direction and speed. The objective of this study was to develop a method to relate short-term changes in traffic mode of operation to air quality near roadways using data averaged over 5-min intervals to provide a better understanding of the processes controlling air pollution concentrations near roadways. Three different types of data analysis are provided to demonstrate the type of results that can be obtained from a near-roadway sampling program based on 5-min measurements: (1) development of vehicle emission factors (EFs) for ultrafine particles as a function of vehicle mode of operation, (2) comparison of measured and modeled CO₂ concentrations, and (3) application of dispersion models to determine concentrations near roadways. EFs for ultrafine particles are developed that are a function of traffic volume and mode of operation (free flow and congestion) for light-duty vehicles (LDVs) under real-world conditions. Two air quality models—CALINE4 (California Line Source Dispersion Model, version 4) and AERMOD (American Meteorological Society/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model)—are used to predict the ultrafine particulate concentrations near roadways for comparison with measured concentrations. When using CALINE4 to predict air quality levels in the mixing cell, changes in surface roughness and stability class have no effect on the predicted concentrations. However, when using AERMOD to predict air quality in the mixing cell, changes in surface roughness have a significant impact on the predicted concentrations.

Implications: The paper provides emission factors (EFs) that are a function of traffic volume and mode of operation (free flow and congestion) for LDVs under real-world conditions. The good agreement between monitoring and modeling results indicates that high-resolution, simultaneous measurements of air quality and meteorological and traffic conditions can be used to determine real-world, fleet-wide vehicle EFs as a function of vehicle mode of operation under actual driving conditions.     

Modelling aerosol number distributions from a vehicle exhaust with an aerosol CFD model

Vehicular traffic contributes significantly to the aerosol number concentrations at the local scale by emitting primary soot particles and forming secondary nucleated nanoparticles. Because of their potential health effects, more attention is paid to the traffic induced aerosol number distributions.The aim of this work is to explain the phenomenology leading to the formation and the evolution of the aerosol number distributions in the vicinity of a vehicle exhaust using numerical modelling. The emissions are representative of those of a light-duty diesel truck without a diesel particle filter. The atmospheric flow is modelled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to describe the dispersion of pollutants at the local scale. The CFD code, coupled to a modal aerosol model (MAM) describing the aerosol dynamics, is used to model the tailpipe plume of a vehicle with emissions corresponding to urban driving conditions. On the basis of available measurements in Schauer et al. (1999), three surrogate species are chosen to treat the semi-volatile organic compounds in the emissions.The model simulates the formation of the aerosol distribution in the exhaust plume of a vehicle as follows. After emission to the atmosphere, particles are formed by nucleation of sulphuric acid and water vapour depending strongly on the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and on the dilution conditions. The semi-volatile organic compounds are critical for the rapid growth of nanoparticles through condensation. The semi-volatile organic compounds are also important for the evolution of primary soot particles and can contribute substantially to their chemical composition.The most influential parameters for particle formation are the sulphur fuel content, the semi-volatile organic emissions and also the mass and initial diameter of the soot particles emitted. The model is able to take into account the complex competition between nucleation, condensation and dilution, as well as the interactions among the different aerosol modes. This type of model is a useful tool to better understand the dynamics leading to the formation of traffic induced aerosol distributions. However, some key issues such as the turbulence in the exhaust plume and in the wake of the car, the magnitude and chemical composition of semi-volatile organic emissions and the possible nucleation of organic species need to be investigated further to improve our understanding of ultrafine particle formation.     

Estimation of road vehicle exhaust emissions from 1992 to 2010 and comparison with air quality measurements in Genoa,Italy

An investigation into road transport exhaust emissions in the Genoa urban area was performed by comparing the quantities of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM) emitted by different vehicle categories with air quality measurements referred to the same pollutants. Exhaust emissions were evaluated by applying the PROGRESS (computer PROGramme for Road vehicle EmiSSions evaluation) code, developed by the Internal Combustion Engines Group of the University of Genoa, to eight different years (from 1992 to 2010), considering spark ignition and Diesel passenger cars and light duty vehicles, heavy duty vehicles and buses, motorcycles and mopeds. Changes in terms of vehicles number, mileage and total emissions are presented together with relative distributions among the various vehicle categories. By comparing 1992 and 2010 data, calculated trends show a 7% increase in the number of vehicles, with total mileage growing at a faster rate (approx. 22%); total emissions decrease considerably, by approximately 50% for NO_x and PM, 70% for HC and 80% for CO, due to improvements in engines and fuels forced by the stricter European legislation and the fleet renewal, while primary NO₂ emission will be very close to 1992 level, after a decrease of about 18% in 2000.Air quality was analysed by selecting traffic and background measuring stations from the monitoring network managed by the Environmental Department of the Province of Genoa: average annual concentrations of considered pollutants from 1994 to 2007 were calculated in order to obtain the relative historical trends and compare them with European public health limits and with road vehicle emissions. Though an important reduction in pollutant concentrations has been achieved as a consequence of cleaner vehicles, some difficulties in complying with present and/or future NO₂ and PM₁₀ limits are also apparent, thus requiring suitable measures to be taken by the local authorities.     

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from an irrigated rice of North India

Upland rice was grown in the kharif season (June-September) under irrigated condition in New Delhi, India (28 degree 40'N and 77 degree 12'E) to monitor CH4 and N2O emission, as influenced by fertilizer urea, ammonium sulphate and potassium nitrate alone (at 120 kg ha-1) and mixed with dicyandiamide (DCD), added at 10% of applied N. The experimental soil was a typic ustochrept (Inceptisol), clay loam, in which rice (Oryza sativa L., var. Pusa-169, duration: 120-125 days) was grown and CH4 and N2O was monitored for 105 days by closed chamber method, starting from the 5 days and 1 day after transplanting, respectively. Methane fluxes had a considerable temporal variation (CV=52-77%) and ranged from 0.05 (ammonium sulphate) to 3.77 mg m-2 h-1 (urea). There was a significant increase in the CH4 emission on the application of fertilizers while addition of DCD with fertilizers reduced emissions. Total CH4 emission (105 days) ranged from 24.5 to 37.2 kg ha-1. Nitrous oxide fluxes were much lower than CH4 fluxes and had ranged from 0.18 to 100.5 g m-2 h-1 with very high temporal variation (CV=69-143%). Total seasonal N2O emission from different treatments ranged from 0.037 to 0.186 kg ha-1 which was a N loss of 0.10-0.12% of applied N. All the fertilizers significantly increased seasonal N2O emission while application of DCD reduced N2O emissions significantly in the range of 10-53%.     

Sensitivity analysis and evaluation of MicroFacPM: a microscale motor vehicle emission factor model for particulate matter emissions

A microscale emission factor model (MicroFacPM) for predicting real-time site-specific motor vehicle particulate matter emissions was presented in the companion paper titled "Development of a Microscale Emission Factor Model for Particulate Matter (MicroFacPM) for Predicting Real-Time Motor Vehicle Emissions". The emission rates discussed are in mass per unit distance with the model providing estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter. This paper complements the companion paper by presenting a sensitivity analysis of the model to input variables and evaluation model outputs using data from limited field studies. The sensitivity analysis has shown that MicroFacPM emission estimates are very sensitive to vehicle fleet composition, speed, and the percentage of high-emitting vehicles. The vehicle fleet composition can affect fleet emission rates from 8 mg/mi to 1215 mg/mi; an increase of 5% in the smoking (high-emitting) current average U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet (compared with 0%) increased PM2.5 emission rates by -272% for 2000; and for the current U.S. fleet, PM2.5 emission rates are reduced by a factor of -0.64 for speeds >50 miles per hour (mph) relative to a speed of 10 mph. MicroFacPM can also be applied to examine the contribution of emission rates per vehicle class, model year, and sources of PM. The model evaluation is presented for the Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel, Pennsylvania Turnpike, PA, and some limited evaluations at two locations: Sepulveda Tunnel, Los Angeles, CA, and Van Nuys Tunnel, Van Nuys, CA. In general, the performance of MicroFacPM has shown very encouraging results.     

Assessment of the uncertainty of using an inverse-dispersion technique to measure methane emissions from animals in a barn and in a small pen

Dispersion techniques are useful for assessing the effectiveness of management practices in mitigating methane (CH₄) emissions from animal operations. In this paper, the accuracy of an inverse-dispersion technique was examined for two common situations: 1) emissions from animals in a barn and 2) emissions from animals in a pen. For both situations, the accuracy of emission estimates generally increased with increasing fetch (scaled to barn height, h, or to pen width, X_s) between the source and the concentration measurement. The gas recovery ratio increased from 0.66 at 5 h to 0.93–1.03 at 10 h–25 h for the barn, and decreased from 1.59 at 0 X_s to 0.99 at 5 X_s and from 1.54 at 0 X_s to 1.09 at 5 X_s for the two small pen scenarios, due to the declining sensitivity of the dispersion model to errors in wind complexity and errors in the assumed source configuration. However, the relative uncertainty of the measured concentration increased with fetch due to the decreasing gas concentrations. Hence, improving the accuracy of emission estimates is a compromise between the source configuration sensitivity and the concentration measurement sensitivity. Fetches of about twice the size of the pen and about 10 times the height of the barn are suggested.     

Control of mercury emissions from a municipal solid waste incinerator in Japan

The control of Hg emissions from a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) is very important, because more than 78% of municipal solid waste (MSW) is incinerated. The Hg content of coal used in utility boilers is relatively low in Japan. In this study, recent trends in the Hg content of MSW in Japan and activated carbon (AC) injection as a control technology of Hg emission from an MSWI are discussed. The effect of AC injection on Hg removal from flue gas in an MSWI was investigated by pilot-scale experiments using a bag filter (BF). The injection of AC increases the Hg reduction ratio by 20-30% compared with cases without AC injection. The Hg reduction ratio increases as the flue gas temperature decreases. The Hg reduction ratio is closely related to the inlet Hg concentration and was expressed with a Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm.     

Limited provision of roads as a bottleneck on vehicle CO2 emissions in Asia: an international comparison of national trends

This paper explores the relationship between road infrastructure, economic growth and road CO₂ emissions. The basic premise is that many developing nations have achieved sufficient wealth to generate substantial demand for road vehicles, but that actual use is constrained by limited provision of surfaced roads. Our main result is that for comparable levels of income (GDP/capita), CO₂ emissions per length of paved road are far higher in rapidly developing Asia as compared to the USA. These findings suggest existence of an 'infrastructure bottleneck', that when relieved, may influence the future trajectory of road transport CO₂ emissions in developing Asia.     

Seasonal variability in CH4 emissions from a landfill in a cool, semiarid climate

Methane exchange with the atmosphere was measured during three seasons at the Rooney Road landfill in Jefferson County, CO. Substantial spatial and temporal variability in exchange rates were observed. Mean fluxes to the atmosphere were 534, 1290, and 538 mg CH4/m2/day, respectively, in the fall of 1994, winter of 1994-1995, and summer of 1995. Median fluxes were 12.42, 8.62, and 5.65 mg CH4/m2/day, respectively, during those seasons. Forty-three of 177 measurements had small negative fluxes, suggesting methanotrophic activity in the landfill cover soils. Despite probable methanotrophic activity in cover soils, landfills without gas collection systems may emit substantial CH4 to the atmosphere, with large spatial and seasonal variability.     

Natural emissions of methane from geological seepage in Europe

Recent studies have shown that geological emissions of methane are an important greenhouse-gas source. Remarkable amounts of methane, estimated in the order of 40–60 Tg yr^?1, are naturally released into the atmosphere from the Earth's crust through faults and fractured rocks. The main source is natural gas, both microbial and thermogenic, produced in hydrocarbon-prone sedimentary basins and injected into the atmosphere through macro-seeps (onshore and offshore mud volcanoes and other seeps) and microseepage, an invisible but pervasive flux from the soil. This source is now evaluated for Europe on the basis of a literature survey, new field measurements and derived emission factors. The up-scaling criteria recommended by the EMEP/CORINAIR guidelines are applied to the local point and area source data.In Europe, 25 countries host oil and/or natural gas reservoirs and potentially, or actually, emit geological methane. Flux data, however, are available only from 10 countries: the onshore or offshore petroliferous sectors of Denmark, Italy, Greece, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Black Sea countries (Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia). Azerbaijan, whose emissions due to mud volcanism are known to be relevant, is included in the estimate.The sum of emissions, regional estimates and local measurements, related to macro-seeps leads to a conservative total value of about 2.2 Tg yr^?1. Together with the potential microseepage fluxes from the petroliferous basins, estimated on the basis of the Total Petroleum System concept (around 0.8 Tg yr^?1), the total European seepage is projected to 3 Tg yr^?1. This preliminary figure would represent, in terms of magnitude, the second natural methane source for Europe after wetlands. The estimate will have to be refined by increasing the number of seepage measurements both on lands, where there is high potential for microseepage (e.g., Germany, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Georgia) and in coastal marine areas (the North Sea, the Black Sea, offshore Greece and Italy) where emission factors and the extent of the underwater seeping area are not completely known.     

Variations in the emissions of volatile organic compounds from the toner for a specific photocopier

A laboratory thermal desorption apparatus was used to measure emissions from a number of nominally identical photocopier toners--manufactured to meet the specifications of one specific model copier--when these toners were heated to fuser temperature (180-200 degrees C). The objective was to assess how potential volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the toner for a given copier can vary, depending upon the production run and the supplier. Tests were performed on a series of toner (and associated raw polymer feedstock) samples obtained directly from a toner manufacturer, representing two production runs using a nonvented extrusion process, and on toner cartridges purchased from two local retailers, representing three different production lots (histories unknown). The results showed that the retailer toners consistently had up to 350% higher emissions of some major compounds (expressed as microgram of compound emitted/g of toner), and up to 100% lower emissions of others, relative to the manufacturer toners (p < or = 0.01). The manufacturer toners from one production run had emissions of certain compounds, and of total VOCs, that were modestly higher (13-18%) than those from the other run (p < or = 0.01). The emission differences between the retailer and manufacturer toners are probably due to differences in the manufacturing processes and/or feedstocks used to produce the toners from these different sources.     

Measuring ammonia emissions from land applied manure: an intercomparison of commonly used samplers and techniques

A number of techniques have been developed to quantify ammonia (NH(3)) emissions following land application of manure or fertiliser. In this study, coefficients of variation were determined for three commonly used field techniques (mass balance integrated horizontal flux, wind tunnels and the equilibrium concentration technique) for measuring emissions from a range of manure types. Coefficients of variation (CV) for absorption flasks, passive flux samplers and passive diffusion samplers were 21, 10 and 14%, respectively. In comparative measurements, concentrations measured using passive flux samplers and absorption flasks did not differ significantly, but those measured using passive diffusion samplers were on average 1.8 times greater. The mass balance technique and wind tunnels gave broadly similar results in two out of four field tests. Overexposure of passive diffusion samplers for some sampling periods meant that estimation of cumulative NH(3) emission using the equilibrium concentration technique in the field tests could not be made. For cumulative NH(3) emissions, CVs were in the range of 23-52, 46-74 and 21-39% for the mass balance, wind tunnel and equilibrium concentration techniques, respectively. Lower CVs were associated with measurements following slurry compared with solid manure applications. Our conclusions from this study are that for the measurement of absolute emissions the mass balance technique is to be preferred, and for small-plot comparative measurements the wind tunnel system is preferred to the equilibrium concentration technique.     

Determination of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions from a commercial dairy farm with an exercise yard and the health-related impact for residents

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Airborne emissions from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have the potential to pose a risk to human health and the environment. Here, we...