Characterization of Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the Area Adjacent to a Petroleum Refinery in Jinan, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT56 VOCs were monitored for a whole year in a refinery vicinity area in suburban of Jinan, as well as PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and ozone. The results of VOCs and particulate matters showed that January was the most polluted month during the sampling period, possibly resulting from coal burning in the district heating period of Jinan. According to the concentration profiles of monthly variety of the ambient pollutants, the change of VOCs showed a certain extent of positive correlation with PM 2.5 and PM 10 , while negative correlation with ozone. It was found that the average concentration of total VOCs was 50.58 µg m -3 while ethane and ethene were the most abundant VOC species with the concentrations of 24.58 and 3.94 µg m -3 , respectively. The high relative contribution of ethane was unusual, compared with the previous related VOC research in urban area of same city or other cities in China. Based on the analysis of the monitoring data, this area was not majorly affected by major VOCs pollutants from refinery emission. m & p-Xylene of 1.34 µg m -3 was the most abundant pollutant of BTEX. The BTEX ratio analysis presented that traffic exhaust was not the major VOCs source.

Emissions of volatile organic compounds from crude oil processing – Global emission inventory and environmental release

“…Therefore, it is postulated that there is a considerable level of uncertainty in EIs reported . Hence some statistical approaches and methods have been proposed to limit these uncertainties such as bootstrap techniques and bottom-up approach and Monte Carlo simulation (Zhang et al, 2017a; With regards to the temporal variations in the VOCs originated from petroleum industries, VOC concentrations in the atmosphere around the relevant sites were found to be highly sensitive to the seasonal changes. This observation is based on the fact that the detected contents of VOCs were found to be higher in summer and then autumn or spring which can be considered as a result of an increase in evaporation of volatile compounds in higher temperature.…”

Determination and Characteristic Analysis of Atmospheric Carbonyl Compounds in a North China Plain Hub City

“…At present, more and more attention has been given to VOC measurement and ozone control in NCP regional hub cities like Jinan City. Although Zhang et al [13] and Liu et al [14] studied the pollution characteristics of typical non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in Jinan, no literatures has reported atmospheric carbonyl compounds in Jinan. Even in other large cities of the NCP region there are still very few studies on atmospheric carbonyls -especially for long-term measurement with high temporal resolution.…”

Results of Three Years of Ambient Air Monitoring Near a Petroleum Refinery in Richmond, California, USA

“…Results from previous work indicate that alkanes, alkenes and aromatic species are the predominant VOCs in areas near petroleum refineries and that propane, hexane, pentane, and toluene/benzene are the main aliphatic and aromatic compounds observed, respectively [6,13,14]. Despite general agreement on observations, such as light alkanes being the most abundant VOC species in refinery perimeter areas [2,27], studies have reached different conclusions regarding the impacts of refinery emissions on nearby ambient VOC enhancement.…”

“…Although multiple monitoring studies have been conducted near petroleum refineries, these studies were usually limited in temporal coverage, spanning periods from hours to a few months, with some exceptions including seasonal sampling over longer periods of time [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Previous work on air quality at refinery perimeters primarily focused on monitoring multiple volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with more limited emphasis on measurements of particulate matter (PM), trace gases, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) [2,3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Despite general agreement on observations, such as light alkanes being the most abundant VOC species in refinery perimeter areas [2,27], studies have reached different conclusions regarding the impacts of refinery emissions on nearby ambient VOC enhancement. While some works have found elevated VOC concentrations when compared to background sites and urban locations [8][9][10]14,28,29], other studies conducted at different sites worldwide have reported no major impact from petroleum refineries emissions on neighboring VOC and PAH atmospheric levels [3][4][5][6][7]. While Na et al [14] reported higher concentrations of PM and VOCs nearby petroleum refineries in South Korea when compared to a downtown location, Baltrenas et al [4] and Kalabokas et al [5] found similar or lower VOC levels in Lithuania and Greece refinery neighboring areas when compared to urban centers in those countries.…”