Characterization of VOCs and their related atmospheric processes in a central Chinese city during severe ozone pollution periods

Abstract

Abstract. A 5-month campaign (from May to September 2017) was conducted to characterize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the first time at four sites in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, where ground level ozone (O3) concentration has shown an increasing trend in recent years. Canister samples were collected for the measurement of 57 VOCs, which, along with reactive nitrogen oxides (NOx), are the most important O3 precursors. During the same period, O3 and its precursor gases were monitored online simultaneously. The results indicated that the average mixing ratio of total quantified VOCs (ΣVOCs=28.8±22.1 ppbv) in Zhengzhou was lower than that in the other Chinese megacities, while alkyne comprised a higher proportion of ΣVOCs. The abundances, compositions and ratios of typical VOCs showed clear spatial and temporal variations. Cluster analysis indicates that air masses from the south of Zhengzhou were cleaner than from other directions. The molar ratio of VOCs to NOx indicated that, in general, O3 formation was more sensitive to VOCs than NOx formation in Zhengzhou. The source apportionment was conducted with positive matrix factorization (PMF), and it was found that vehicle exhaust, coal and biomass burning and solvent usage were the major sources for ambient VOCs at all four sites. From potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis, the strong emissions from coal + biomass burning and solvent usage were concentrated in the southwest of Shanxi and Henan provinces. This study gathers scientific evidence on the pollution sources for Zhengzhou, benefiting the government to establish efficient environmental control measures, particularly for O3 pollution.

Supplementary material to "Measurement report: Characteristics and sources of non-methane VOCs and their roles in SOA formation during autumn in a central Chinese city"

“…Factor 2 is identified as solvent evaporation source characterized by significant loading of benzene (m/z 79), toluene (m/z 93), styrene (m/z 105), C8 aromatics (m/z 107), C9 aromatics (m/z 121), and C10 aromatics (m/z 135). As many previous studies show, the aromatics are major VOCs emitted from paint applications(Yuan et al, 2010;Yang et al, 2018;Li et al, 2019), and this is consistent with the real situation in Xinxiang according to the Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (http://www.meicmodel.org, last access: 15 November, 2018). In Hongqi district, there are a lot of buildings under construction and many equipment manufacturing plants involving coating process, resulting in the usage of construction and industrial solvents.…”

Measurement Report: Aircraft Observations of Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, and Volatile Organic Compounds over Hebei Province, China

“…In this study, i-pentane and n-pentane are highly correlated (R=0.93), indicating a common source of these compounds. The slope is 10.3, higher than reported in previous studies in China (Li et al, 2019), and the large i-pentane concentrations are likely reflective of gasoline evaporation due to the extremely volatile nature of i-pentane. The influence of fuel evaporative emissions is further identified by strong correlations between C4-C7 alkanes and alkenes typical of fuel evaporative emissions.…”

Source Apportionment of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) during Ozone Polluted Days in Hangzhou, China

“…Samples were collected using 3.2 L silica SUMMA canisters (Entech Instrument, Inc., Simi Valley, CA, USA), which were pre-cleaned with high-purity nitrogen and vacuumed to 20 Psi [20]. Ambient air was taken at a flow rate of 120 mL/min through a constant flow sampler (CS1200E, Entech Instrument, Inc., Simi Valley, CA, USA).…”