Trends of chemical speciation profiles of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds emissions in China, 2005–2020

Abstract

This study estimates the detailed chemical profiles of China’s anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions for the period of 2005–2020. The chemical profiles of VOCs for seven activity sectors are calculated, based on which the Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP) of VOCs for these sectors is evaluated. At the national level, the VOCs species emitted in 2005 include alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, aromatic compounds, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, ethers and halocarbons, accounting for 26.4 wt.%, 29.2 wt.%, 21.3 wt.%, 4.7 wt.%, 5.4 wt.%, 1.7 wt.%, 2.1 wt.%, 0.7 wt.% and 2.2 wt.% of total emissions, respectively. And during 2005-2020, their mass proportions would respectively grow or decrease by -6.9%, -32.7%, 7.3%, 65.3%, 34.7%, -48.6%, 108.5%, 100.5%, and 55.4%. This change would bring about a 13% reduction of POCP for national VOCs emissions in the future. Thus, although the national VOCs emissions are expected to increase by 33% over the whole period, its ozone formation potential is estimated to rise only by 14%. Large discrepancies are found in VOCs speciation emissions among provinces. Compared to western provinces, the eastern provinces with a more developed economy would emit unsaturated hydrocarbons and benzene with lower mix ratios, and aromatic compounds except benzene, oxidized hydrocarbons and halocarbons with higher mix ratios. Such differences lead to lower POCP of VOCs emitted in eastern provinces, and higher POCP of VOCs emitted in western provinces. However, due to the large VOCs emissions from Chinese eastern region, the ozone formation potential of VOCs emission in eastern provinces would be much higher than those in western provinces by about 156%–235%.

Keywords

volatile organic compounds (VOCs) / chemical speciation / ozone formation / Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP) / China

References

[1] Wang H X, Kiang C S, Tang X Y, Zhou Z J, Chameides W L. Surface ozone: a likely threat to crops in Yangtze delta of China. Atmospheric Environment, 2005, 39(21): 3843-3850

[2] Coleman B K, Lunden M M, Destaillats H, Nazaroff W W. Secondary organic aerosol from ozone-initiated reactions with terpene-rich household products. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(35): 8234-8245

[3] Lamorena R B, Lee W. Influence of ozone concentration and temperature on ultra-fine particle and gaseous volatile organic compound formations generated during the ozone-initiated reactions with emitted terpenes from a car air freshener. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2008, 158(2-3): 471-477

[4] Lin S, Bell E M, Liu W, Walker R J, Kim N K, Hwang S A. Ambient ozone concentration and hospital admissions due to childhood respiratory diseases in New York State, 1991-2001. Environmental Research, 2008, 108(1): 42-47

[5] van Zelm R, Huijbregts M A J, den Hollander H A, van Jaarsveld H A, Sauter F J, Struijs J, van Wijnen H J, van de Meent D. European characterization factors for human health damage of PM10 and ozone in life cycle impact assessment. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(3): 441-453

[6] Pei C H. Air pollution control in Beijing. In: Procrrdings of Conference on strategic approaches to regional air quality management in China. Beijing: 2005

[7] Shao M, Tang X Y, Zhang Y H, Li W. City clusters in China: air and surface water pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2006, 4(7): 353-361

[8] Ding A J, Wang T, Thouret V, Cammas J P, Nédélec P. Tropospheric ozone climatology over Beijing: analysis of aircraft data from the MOZAIC program. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2008, 8(1): 1-13

[9] Geng F H, Tie X X, Xu J M, Zhou G, Peng L, Gao W, Tang X, Zhao C. Characterizations of ozone, NOx, and VOCs measured in Shanghai, China. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(29): 6873-6883

[10] Wang T, Wei X L, Ding A J, Poon C N, Lam K S, Li Y S, Chan L Y, Anson M. Increasing surface ozone concentrations in the background atmosphere of Southern China, 1994-2007. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2009, 9(16): 6217-6226

[11] Streets D G, Fu J S, Jang C J, Hao J, He K, Tang X, Zhang Y, Wang Z, Li Z, Zhang Q, Wang L, Wang B, Yu C. Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Atmospheric Environment, 2007, 41(3): 480-492

[12] Xu J, Zhang Y H, Fu J S, Zheng S, Wang W. Process analysis of typical summertime ozone episodes over the Beijing area. Science of the Total Environment, 2008, 399(1-3): 147-157

[13] Zhang Y H, Su H, Zhong L J, Cheng Y F, Zeng L M, Wang X S, Xiang Y R, Wang J L, Gao D F, Shao M. Regional ozone pollution and observation-based approach for analyzing ozone-precursor relationship during the PRIDE-PRD2004 campaign. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(25): 6203-6218

[14] Shao M, Zhang Y H, Zeng L M, Tang X, Zhang J, Zhong L, Wang B. Ground-level ozone in the Pearl River Delta and the roles of VOC and NO(x) in its production. Journal of Environmental Management, 2009, 90(1): 512-518

[15] Cheng H R, Guo H, Saunders S M, Lam S H M, Jiang F, Wang X M, Simpson I J, Blake D R, Louie P K K, Wang T J. Assessing photochemical ozone formation in the Pearl River Delta with a photochemical trajectory model. Atmospheric Environment, 2010, 44(34): 4199-4208

[16] Tonooka Y, Kannari A, Higashino H, Murano K. NMVOCs and CO emission inventory in East Asia. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 2001, 130(1/4): 199-204

[17] Klimont Z, Streets D G, Gupta S, Cofala J, Lixin F, Ichikawa Y. Anthropogenic emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds in China. Atmospheric Environment, 2002, 36(8): 1309-1322

[18] Streets D G, Bond T C, Carmichael G R, Fernandes S D, Fu Q, He D, Klimont Z, Nelson S M, Tsai N Y, Wang M Q, Woo J H, Yarber K F. An inventory of gaseous and primary aerosol emission in Asia in the year 2000. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2003, 108(D21): 8809-8832

[19] Bo Y, Cai H, Xie S D. Spatial and temporal variation of emission inventories for historical anthropogenic NMVOCs in China. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussion, 2008, 8(23): 1519-1566

[20] Liu J F, Zhao J, Li T T, Bai Y H, Liu Z R. Establishment of Chinese anthropogenic source volatile organic compounds emission inventory. China Environmental Science, 2008, 28(6): 496-500 (In Chinese)

[21] Wei W, Wang S X, Chatani S, Klimont Z, Cofala J, Hao J. Emission and speciation of non-methane volatile organic compounds from anthropogenic sources in China. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(20): 4976-4988

[22] Wei W, Wang S X, Hao J M, Cheng S. Projection of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions in China for the period 2010-2020. Atmospheric Environment, 2011, 45(38): 6863-6871

[23] Derwent R G, Jenkin M E, Passant N R, Pilling M J. Photochemical ozone creation potentials (POCPs) for different emission sources of organic compounds under European conditions estimated with a Master Chemical Mechanism. Atmospheric Environment, 2007, 41(12): 2570-2579

[24] Liu X H, Zhang Y, Cheng S H, Xing J, Zhang Q, Streets D G, Jang C, Wang W X, Hao J M. Understanding of regional air pollution over China using CMAQ, part I performance evaluation and seasonal variation. Atmospheric Environment, 2010, 44(20): 2415-2426

[25] Altenstdet J, Pleijel K. POCP for individual VOC under European Condition [R]. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. 1998

[26] Zhang Q, Streets D G, He K B, Wang Y X, Richter A, Burrows J P, Uno I, Jang C J, Chen D, Yao Z L, Lei Y. NOx emission trends for China, 1995-2004: The view from the ground and the view from space. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2007, 112(D2): 1-18

[27] Wang S X, Xing J, Chatani S, Hao J, Klimont Z, Cofala J, Amann M. Verification of anthropogenic emissions of China by satellite and ground observations. Atmospheric Environment, 2011, 45(35): 6347-6358

[28] Huang C, Chen C H, Li L, Cheng Z, Wang H L, Huang H Y, Streets D G, Wang Y J, Zhang G F, Chen Y R. Emission inventory of anthropogenic air pollutants and VOC species in the Yangtze River Delta region, China. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2011, 11(9): 4105-4120

[29] Wang S X, Wei W, Du L, Li G, Hao J. Characteristics of gaseous pollutants from biofuel-stoves in rural China. Atmospheric Environment, 2009, 43(27): 4148-4154

[30] Zhang J F, Smith K R, Ma Y, Ye S, Jiang F, Qi W, Liu P, Khalil M A K, Rasmussen R A, Thorneloe S A. Greenhouse gases and other airborne pollutants from household stoves in China. Atmospheric Environment, 2000, 34(26): 4537-4549

[31] Liu Y, Shao M, Fu L L, Lu S, Zeng L, Tang D. Source profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured in China: Part I. Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42(25): 6247-6260

[32] Fu L L, Shao M, Liu Y, Liu Y, Lu S H, Tang D G. Tunnel experimental study on the emission factors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from vehicles. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 2005, 25(7): 879-885 (in Chinese)

[33] Liang B S, Zhou Y. Study on emission characteristics of volatile organic compounds in the exhaust of different types of vehicles. Environmental Monitoring in China, 2005, 21(1): 8-11 (in Chinese)

[34] Yuan B, Shao M, Lu S H, Wang B. Source profiles of volatile organic compounds associated with solvent use in Beijing, China. Atmospheric Environment, 2010, 44(15): 1919-1926

[35] He Q S, Wang X M, Zhao L R,Sheng G Y,Fu J M. Preliminary study on profiles of VOCs emitted from coking. Environmental Monitoring in China, 2005, 21(1): 61-66 (in Chinese)

[36] Cheng P, Zhang W J, Chu Y N. Analysis of Petrol and Diesel Vapor Using Selective Ion Flow Tube/Mass Spectrometry. Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 2003, 31(5): 548-551 (in Chinese)

[37] Lu S H, Bai Y H, Zhang G S, M J. Study on the characteristics of VOCs source profiles of vehicle exhaust and gasoline emission. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis, 2003, 39(4): 507-512 (in Chinese)

[38] Xie J X. A study of the indoor air organic pollution affected by environment tobacco smoke. Desseration for the Doctoral Degree. Guangzhou: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Science, 2004 (in Chinese)

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51108006), Ph.D Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20111103120008), and MEP′s Special Funds for Research on Public Welfares (No. 2011467003). We also thank Professor Min Shao for his detailed information of VOCs chemical profiles of some improtant sources.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg