Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

Regulated emission characteristics of in-use LNG and diesel semi-trailer towing vehicles under real driving conditions using PEMS

On-road driving emissions of six liquefied natural gas(LNG) and diesel semi-trailer towing vehicles(STTVs) which met China Emission Standard IV and V were tested using Portable Emission Measurement System(PEMS) in northern China.Emission characteristics of these vehicles under real driving conditions were analyzed and proved that on-road emissions of heavy-duty vehicles(HDVs) were underestimated in the past.There were large differences among LNG and diesel vehicles, which also existed between China V vehicles and China IV vehicles.Emission factors showed the highest level under real driving conditions, which probably be caused by frequent acceleration, deceleration, and start-stop.NOx emission factors ranged from 2.855 to 20.939 g/km based on distance-traveled and 6.719–90.557 g/kg based on fuel consumption during whole tests, which were much higher than previous researches on chassis dynamometer.It was inferred from tests that the fuel consumption rate of the test vehicles had a strong correlation with NOx emission, and the exhaust temperature also affected the efficiency of Selected Catalytic Reduction(SCR) aftertreatment system, thus changing the NOx emission greatly.THC emission factors of LNG vehicles were 2.012–10.636 g/km, which were much higher than that of diesel vehicles(0.029–0.185 g/km).Unburned CH_4 may be an important reason for this phenomenon.Further on-road emission tests, especially CH_4 emission test should be carried out in subsequent research.In addition, the Particulate Number(PN) emission factors of diesel vehicles were at a very high level during whole tests, and Diesel Particulate Filter(DPF)should be installed to reduce PN emission.     

Investigation to meet China II emission legislation for marine diesel engine with diesel methanol compound combustion technology

In order to reduce the pollutant emission and alleviate the pressure of petroleum resources shortage and greenhouse gas emission at the same time, the use of clean and renewable alternative fuel for marine engines is a promising option. In this study, a marine diesel engine, which was modified to run in diesel methanol compound combustion (DMCC) mode, was investigated. After the diesel injection parameters were calibrated, and combined with a sample after-treatment device DOC (diesel oxidation catalyst), the engine could meet the requirements of China II legislation. The overall MSP (methanol substitute percent) reached 54.1%. The value of each pollutant emission was much lower than that in China II emission legislation, and there was almost no methanol and formaldehyde emissions. When methanol was injected into the inlet manifold, the intake air temperature decreased a lot, as well as the exhaust gas temperature, which were beneficial to increase engine thermal efficiency and improve engine room environment. Compared with the engine running in pure diesel mode, when the engine ran in diesel/methanol dual fuel mode, the combustion phase was advanced, and the combustion duration became shorter. Therefore, the engine thermal efficiency increased, and fuel consumption decreased significantly.     

Reviews of emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in Asia

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in the atmosphere play important roles in the formation of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in global scale and also in regional scale under some condition due to their large amount and relatively higher reactivity. In places with high plant cover in the tropics and in China where air pollution is serious, the effect of BVOCs on ozone and secondary organic aerosols is strong. The present research aims to provide a comprehensive review about the emission rate, emission inventory, research methods, the influencing factors of BVOCs emissions, as well as their impacts on atmospheric environment quality and human health in recent years in Asia based on the summary and analysis of literatures. It is suggested to use field direct measurement method to obtain the emission rate and model method to calculate the emission amount. Several recommendations are given for future investigation and policy development on BVOCs emission.     

我国中部地区大气CO2柱浓度时空分布

基于日本GOSAT及美国AIRS反演数据产品,对我国中部六省大气CO₂时空分布特征进行研究,结果表明：由GOSAT反演的中部地区2010~2013年大气CO₂年均柱浓度由389.36×10^-6增长到396.52×10^-6,年均绝对增长率达2.39×10^-6/a,呈现出冬春季高值、夏秋季低值的季节变化特征,其柱浓度年均值及去长期趋势后的月均值均略低于长三角地区,高于京津冀和东三省地区;其CO₂柱浓度高值区集中在湖南、江西及周边一带,年均绝对增长率为2.01×10^-6,其柱浓度年均值及去长期趋势后的月均值与长三角地区相当,略低于京津冀和东三省地区,由于受地面源汇影响较小,其与GOSAT反演结果相反,可能是由于AIRS反映了对流层中层大气状况,而GOSAT则更多地反映了近地面层大气CO₂变化.     

Mercury flows in large-scale gold production and implications for Hg pollution control

Large-scale gold production(LSGP) is one of the five convention-related atmospheric mercury(Hg) emission sources in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. However, field experiments on Hg flows of the whole process of LSGP are limited. To identify the atmospheric Hg emission points and understand Hg emission characteristics of LSGP, Hg flows in two gold smelters were studied. Overall atmospheric Hg emissions accounted for 10%–17% of total Hg outputs and the Hg emission factors for all processes were 7.6–9.6 kg/ton. There were three dominant atmospheric Hg emission points in the studied gold smelters, including the exhaust gas of the roasting process, exhaust gas from the environmental fog collection stack and exhaust gas from the converter of the refining process. Atmospheric Hg emissions from the roasting process only accounted for 16%–29% of total emissions and the rest were emitted from the refining process. The overall Hg speciation profile(gaseous elemental Hg/gaseous oxidized Hg/particulate-bound Hg) for LSGP was 34.1/57.1/8.8. The dominant Hg output byproducts included waste acid, sulfuric acid and cyanide leaching residue. Total Hg outputs from these three byproducts were 80% in smelter A and 84% in smelter B. Our study indicated that previous atmospheric Hg emissions from large-scale gold production might have been overestimated.Hg emission control in LSGP is not especially urgent in China compared to other significant emission sources(e.g., cement plants). Instead, LSGP is a potential Hg release source due to the high Hg output proportions to acid and sludge.     

ADMS模型解析城区总悬浮颗粒物来源

以污染源排放数据为基础,应用ADMS-城市扩散模型模拟分析了鞍山市尘各污染源对空气环境质量的贡献。结果表明,来自污染源的浓度贡献值占总量的52%;二次尘及外来尘浓度贡献占48%;矿山开采二次尘的浓度贡献占16%;鞍钢炼铁厂的浓度贡献占19.6%;鞍钢化工总厂浓度贡献占5.6%;供暖锅炉浓度贡献占9.3%。低、中、高架源浓度贡献百分比分别为68.1%、29.0%、2.9%。低架源吨排放量浓度贡献为高架源的2.4倍。     

乌鲁木齐市汽车尾气污染状况调查

对乌鲁木齐市主要街道受汽车尾气污染的调查和综合分析得到CO、NOx、HC的污染规律,主要街道路中心空气中CO、NOx日均值已超出国家大气环境质量二级标准,市区主要街道的人行道空气中NOx含量已超出二级标准,Ⅱ、Ⅲ类道路人行道空气中CO含量已超标;在三类街道中,Ⅰ类街道车流量最大,Ⅱ类次之,Ⅲ类最少,而汽车排放尾气对街道空气污染状况为Ⅲ类最重、Ⅱ类次之、Ⅰ类最轻。     

关于我国一氧化碳室内空气质量评价标准的建议

人们大部分时间处于室内，室内空气质量直接影响人们的身体健康。当前，室内空气污染己成为社会关注的热点问题，一氧化碳(CO)含量高低是室内空气质量(IAQ)好坏的重要指示指标。本文通过分析一氧化碳(CO)的理化特性，来源，毒理学研究和流行病学研究结果，在参考世界卫生组织(WHO)或国外相关标准的基础上，结合我国的实际情况和目前污染水平，首次提出了我国一氧化碳(CO)室内空气质量三级标准建议值。     

中国“达标排放”政策的实证分析及理论探讨

以固定点源烟尘排放为例,从排放标准和监测标准两方面讨论了中国现阶段“达标排放”的状况,指出当前的大气污染源达标排放实际上是“初步达标排放”,现在的排放标准和监测规范合适考核污染源的初步达标排放,不适合考核污染源的连续达标排放。排放标准的规定形式、监测规范和适用范围需要改革。现在的排放标准指标需要与监测规范和超标率限值结合起来,以促进污染源的连续达标排放。