1
|
Ting YC, Huang CH, Cheng YH, Hsiao TC, Wei-Po Lai W, Ciou ZJ. Chemical characteristics and formation mechanism of secondary inorganic aerosols: The decisive role of aerosol acidity and meteorological conditions. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 358:124472. [PMID: 38945190 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a growing concern about air pollution and its impact on the air quality and human health, especially for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and its associated secondary aerosols in urban areas. This study conducted a year-long field campaign to collect PM2.5 samples day and night in an urban area of central Taiwan. Higher PM2.5 mass concentrations were observed in winter (27.7 ± 9.7 μg/m3), followed by autumn (22.5 ± 8.3 μg/m3), spring (19.2 ± 6.4 μg/m3), and summer (11.0 ± 3.1 μg/m3). The dominant formation mechanism of secondary inorganic aerosols was heterogeneous reactions of NO3- at night and homogeneous reactions of SO42- during the day. Additionally, significant correlations were observed between aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) and NO3- during nighttime, indicating the importance of aqueous-phase NO3- formation. The role of aerosol acidity was explored and a unique alkaline condition was found in spring and summer, which showed lower PM2.5 concentrations than the neutralized condition. Under the neutralized condition, higher PM2.5 concentrations were commonly found when combining the ammonium-rich regime with molar ratios of [NO3-]/[SO42-] exceeding 1.6, suggesting the importance of reducing both NH3 and NOx. Furthermore, the results showed that reducing NH3 should be prioritized under high temperature conditions, while reducing NOx became important under low temperature conditions. Clustering of backward trajectories showed that long-range transport could enhance the formation of secondary aerosols, but local emissions emerged as the main factor driving high PM2.5 concentrations. This study provides insights for policymakers to improve air quality, suggesting that different mitigation strategies should be formulated based on meteorological variables and that using clean energy for vehicles and electricity generation is important to alleviate air pollution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chieh Ting
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Chuan-Hsiu Huang
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Hsiang Cheng
- Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Environmental Sustainability and Human Health, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ta-Chih Hsiao
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Research Centre for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Webber Wei-Po Lai
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Zih-Jhe Ciou
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Deng M, Wang C, Yang C, Li X, Cheng H. Nitrogen and oxygen isotope characteristics, formation mechanism, and source apportionment of nitrate aerosols in Wuhan, Central China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 921:170715. [PMID: 38331296 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 01/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the sources and formation mechanisms of nitrate in PM2.5 is important for effective and precise prevention and control of particulate matter pollution. In this study, we detected stable nitrogen and oxygen isotope signatures of NO- 3 (expressed as δ15N-NO- 3 and δ18O-NO3-) in PM2.5 samples in Wuhan, the largest city in central China. The sources and formation pathways of NO3- were quantitatively analyzed using the modified version of the Bayesian isotope mixing (MixSIR) model, and the regional transport characteristics of NO3- were analyzed using the hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) method. The results showed that NO3- significantly contributed to the ambient PM2.5 pollution and its driving effect increased with the gradient of pollution level. The average δ15N-NO3- and δ18O-NO3- values were 4.7 ± 0.9 ‰ and 79.7 ± 2.9 ‰, respectively. δ15N-NO3- and δ18O-NO3- were more enriched in winter and increased dramatically in heavily polluted days. The reaction pathway of NO2 + OH dominated nitrate formation in summer, while the reaction pathway of N2O5+ H2O dominated in other seasons and contributed more in polluted days than clean days. The contributions of vehicle emission, coal combustion, biomass burning, biogenic soil emission, and ship emission sources to NO3- were 26.4 %, 23.4 %, 22.8 %, 15.3 %, and 12.1 %, respectively. In addition to local emissions, air mass transport from the northern China had a significant impact on particulate NO3- in Wuhan. Overall, we should pay special attention to vehicle and ship emissions and winter coal combustion emissions in future policymaking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mengjie Deng
- School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Cimou Wang
- School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Chunmian Yang
- School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Li
- School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
| | - Hairong Cheng
- School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Shi R, Zhang F, Shen Y, Shen J, Xu B, Kuang B, Xu Z, Jin L, Tang Q, Tian X, Wang Z. Aerosol liquid water in PM 2.5 and its roles in secondary aerosol formation at a regional site of Yangtze River Delta. J Environ Sci (China) 2024; 138:684-696. [PMID: 38135431 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2023.04.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) plays an important role in secondary aerosol formation. In this study, a whole year field campaign was conducted at Shanxi in north Zhejiang Province during 2021. ALWC estimated by ISORROPIA-II was then investigated to explore its characteristics and relationship with secondary aerosols. ALWC exhibited a highest value in spring (66.38 µg/m3), followed by winter (45.08 µg/m3), summer (41.64 µg/m3), and autumn (35.01 µg/m3), respectively. It was supposed that the secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA) were facilitated under higher ALWC conditions (RH > 80%), while the secondary organic species tended to form under lower ALWC levels. Higher RH (> 80%) promoted the NO3- formation via gas-particle partitioning, while SO42- was generated at a relative lower RH (> 50%). The ALWC was more sensitive to NO3- (R = 0.94) than SO42- (R = 0.90). Thus, the self-amplifying processes between the ALWC and SIA enhanced the particle mass growth. The sensitivity of ALWC and OX (NO2 + O3) to secondary organic carbon (SOC) varied in different seasons at Shanxi, more sensitive to aqueous-phase reactions (daytime R = 0.84; nighttime R = 0.54) than photochemical oxidation (daytime R = 0.23; nighttime R = 0.41) in wintertime with a high level of OX (daytime: 130-140 µg/m3; nighttime: 100-140 µg/m3). The self-amplifying process of ALWC and SIA and the aqueous-phase formation of SOC will enhance aerosol formation, contributing to air pollution and reduction of visibility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruifang Shi
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Fei Zhang
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yemin Shen
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Jiasi Shen
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Bingye Xu
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Binyu Kuang
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhengning Xu
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Lingling Jin
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Qian Tang
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Xudong Tian
- Zhejiang Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Zhibin Wang
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 311215, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhang Q, Wang Y, Liu M, Zheng M, Yuan L, Liu J, Tao S, Wang X. Wintertime Formation of Large Sulfate Particles in China and Implications for Human Health. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:20010-20023. [PMID: 37909663 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Outdoor air pollution causes millions of premature deaths annually worldwide. Sulfate is a major component of particulate pollution. Winter sulfate observations in China show both high concentrations and an accumulation mode with a modal size >1 μm. However, we find that this observed size distribution cannot be simulated using classical gaseous and aqueous phase formation (CSF) or proposed aerosol-processing formation (APF) mechanisms. Specifically, the CSF simulation underestimates sulfate concentrations by 76% over megacities in China and predicts particle size distributions with a modal size of ∼0.35 μm, significantly smaller than observations. Although incorporating the APF mechanism in the atmospheric chemical model notably improves sulfate concentration simulation with reasonable parameters, the simulated sulfate particle size distribution remains similar to that using the CSF mechanism. We further conduct theoretical analyses and show that particles with diameters <0.3 μm grow rapidly (2-3 s) to 1 μm through the condensation of sulfuric acid in fresh high-temperature exhaust plumes, referred to as in-source formation (ISF). An ISF sulfate source equivalent to 15% of sulfur emissions from fossil fuel combustion largely explains both observed size distributions and mass concentrations of sulfate particles. The findings imply that ISF is a major source of wintertime micron-sized sulfate in China and underscore the importance of considering the size distribution of aerosols for accurately assessing the impacts of inorganic aerosols on radiative forcing and human health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qianru Zhang
- Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Yuhang Wang
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Maodian Liu
- Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States
| | - Mingming Zheng
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
- School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China
| | - Lianxin Yuan
- Hubei Environmental Monitoring Center, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Junfeng Liu
- Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Shu Tao
- Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xuejun Wang
- Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ali U, Faisal M, Ganguly D, Kumar M, Singh V. Analysis of aerosol liquid water content and its role in visibility reduction in Delhi. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 867:161484. [PMID: 36639001 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Aerosols undergo significant changes due to water uptake under high RH conditions, leading to changes in physical, optical, and chemical properties. Detailed assessment and investigation are needed to understand better aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) characteristics in highly polluted regions like Delhi. Therefore, in this study, we examined the mass concentration and the factors governing the ALWC associated with PM2.5 in Delhi for two winters (Dec 2019 to Jan 2020 and Dec 2020 to Feb 2021) using the real-time measurements of NR-PM2.5 from Aerodyne aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) and the application of thermodynamic modeling (ISORROPIA II). The average NR-PM2.5 mass concentration in the 2020-2021 winter was 152 μg/m3, about 50 % higher than the average mass concentration of 102 μg/m3 in 2019-2020. Consequently, the ALWC was also 60 % higher during 2020-2021, with an average mass concentration of 150 μg/m3. ALWC increased exponentially with RH and is significant when RH > 80 %. Further, all the inorganic components of NR-PM2.5 were found to contribute significantly to ALWC uptake; however, the relative contribution varied in different RH conditions. Ammonium sulphate dominated the ALWC uptake among the inorganic components at low RH, but ammonium nitrate was the dominant contributor at high RH. The decreased chloride mass fraction in inorganics in the recent winters reduced its relative contribution to ALWC. High ALWC mass concentration during high PM2.5 and high RH leads to a significant reduction in visibility. We further validated this visibility reduction by estimating the enhanced light scattering coefficient (f(RH)) and found that the hygroscopic growth is responsible for the enhanced visibility reduction during high RH conditions (> 85 %) when light scattering efficiency increased by a factor of >3.5. Sensitivity tests of f(RH) on mass concentration of inorganic salts showed that all the salts contributed almost equally. As revealed in our study, variations in PM2.5 mass concentration and composition despite similar meteorological conditions between different winters indicate changing regional aerosol emissions. Therefore, long-term observations of ALWC and PM2.5 chemical composition are required to arrive at actionable measures and mitigation strategies. Further, the focus should be on reducing the overall inorganic mass concentrations of PM2.5 in general, decreasing the absolute ALWC, and improving visibility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Umer Ali
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Mohd Faisal
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Dilip Ganguly
- Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Mayank Kumar
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India.
| | - Vikram Singh
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Gao J, Wei Y, Zhao H, Liang D, Feng Y, Shi G. The role of source emissions in sulfate formation pathways based on chemical thermodynamics and kinetics model. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 851:158104. [PMID: 35987245 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Sulfate is a major PM2.5 constituent and poses a significant threat to ecosystems and human health, which has attracted lots of attention to the sulfate formation mechanism. In recent years, there has been great scientific interest in the multiphase oxidation of SO2 in aqueous aerosol particles. Many factors are involved in the reaction process, including precursor SO2, oxidants/catalysts, and aerosol acidity, which are three channels closely related to the source emission. The conjoint analysis of source emissions and sulfate aqueous formation can provide a scientific basis for designing effective strategies, though the related research is extremely limited. Here, we applied an improved solute strength-dependent chemical Thermodynamics & Kinetics model (for aqueous pathway contribution) and the Partial Target Transformation-Positive matrix factor model (for source apportionment) to explore the role of source emission in sulfate aqueous formation. The results indicated H2O2 aqueous oxidation was the dominant pathway (65.9 %), and secondary nitrate source may grow together with sulfate formation from H2O2 pathway. H2O2 and TMI pathways were related to higher SOR (sulfur oxidation rate). TMI pathway was significant in summer (54.6 %) and increased with secondary sources and vehicle exhaust. NO2 pathway was more significant at low secondary source and high coal combustion (higher contribution of NO2 pathway appeared in winter, 24.7 %). While high formation rate of the O3 pathway always occurred at low source levels. Coal combustion and vehicle exhaust showed obvious effects on sulfate aqueous formation. Notably, aerosol acidity is a significant factor related to sources and plays a key role in sulfate formation. The result also suggested aerosol pH may be more important than the amounts of substances involved in the oxidation reaction. The findings in this work can provide useful information for better understanding sulfate aqueous formation and offer a scientific basis for designing strategies for air pollution control and sulfate mitigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Gao
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Yuting Wei
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Huan Zhao
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Danni Liang
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Yinchang Feng
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Guoliang Shi
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; CMA-NKU Cooperative Laboratory for Atmospheric Environment-Health Research, Tianjin 300350, China.
| |
Collapse
|