Chuanyong Zhu

Atmospheric emission inventory of hazardous trace elements from China's coal-fired power plants--temporal trends and spatial variation characteristics.

Coal-fired power plants are the important sources of anthropogenic atmospheric releases of various hazardous trace elements (HTE) because a large quantity of emissions can cause wide dispersion and possible long-distance transportation. To obtain the temporal trends and spatial variation characteristics of various HTE discharged from coal-fired power plants of China, a multiple-year comprehensive emission inventory of HTE including Hg, As, Se, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Sb has been established for the period 2000-2010. Thanks to the cobenefit removal effects of conventional particulate matter/sulfur dioxide/nitrogen oxides (PM/SO2/NOx) control devices, emissions of these 8 toxic elements have shown a gradual decline since the peak in 2006. The total emissions of Hg, As, Se, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Sb are substantial and are estimated at about 118.54, 335.45, 459.4, 705.45, 13.34, 505.03, 446.42, and 82.33 tons (t), respectively, in 2010. Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanxi, and Hebei always rank among the top ten provinces with the highest emissions. Further, future emissions for 2015 and 2020 are projected with scenario analysis. Advanced technologies and integrated management strategies to control HTE are in great need.

Atmospheric pollution problems and control proposals associated with solid waste management in China: A review

Along with population growth, rapid urbanization and industrialization process, the volume of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in China has been increasing sharply in the past 30 years and the total amount of MSW yields will continue to increase. Nowadays, due to global warming warrants particular attention throughout the world, a series of air pollutants (including greenhouse gases, odorous gases, PCDD/Fs, heavy metals, PM, etc.) discharged from waste disposal and treatment processes have become one of the new significant emerging air pollution sources, which arousing great concerns about their adverse effects on surrounding ambient air quality and public health. At present, the overall safely disposed ratio of the collected MSW in China is reported at approximately 78% in 2010, and there are mainly three types of MSW disposal methods practiced in China, including landfill, composting and incineration. The characteristics of air pollutants and greenhouse gases discharge vary substantially among different MSW disposal methods. By presenting a thorough review of MSW generation in China and providing a summarization of the current status of MSW disposal methods practices, this review article makes an integrated overview analysis of existing air pollution problems associated with MSW collection, separation, and disposal processes. Furthermore, some comprehensive control proposals to prevent air pollution for improving MSW management of China in the future are put forward.

A comprehensive emission inventory of multiple air pollutants from iron and steel industry in China: Temporal trends and spatial variation characteristics

China has become the largest producer of iron and steel throughout the world since 1996. However, as an energy-and-pollution intensive manufacturing sector, a detailed comprehensive emission inventory of air pollutants for iron and steel industry of China is still not available. To obtain and better understand the temporal trends and spatial variation characteristics of typical hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emissions from iron and steel production in China, a comprehensive emission inventory of multiple air pollutants, including size segregated particulate matter (TSP/PM10/PM2.5), gaseous pollutants (SO2, NOx, CO), heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Ni etc.), as well as the more dangerous PCDD/Fs, is established with the unit-based annual activity, specific dynamic emission factors for the historical period of 1978-2011, and the future potential trends till to 2050 are forecasted by using scenario analysis. Our results show that emissions of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter have experienced a gradual increase tendency since 2000, while emissions of priority-controlled heavy metals (Hg, Pb, As, Cd, Cr, and Ni) have exhibited a short-term fluctuation during the period of 1990 to 2005. With regard to the spatial distribution of HAPs emissions in base year 2011, Bohai economic circle is identified as the top emission intensity region where iron and steel smelting plants are densely built; within iron and steel industry, blast furnaces contribute the majority of PM emissions, sinter plants account for most of gaseous pollutants and the majority of PCDD/Fs, whereas steel making processes are responsible for the majority of heavy metal emissions. Moreover, comparisons of future emission trends under three scenarios indicate that advanced technologies and integrated whole process management strategies are in great need to further diminish various hazardous air pollutants from iron and steel industry in the future.

Nitrogen oxides emissions from thermal power plants in china: current status and future predictions.

Increasing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the Chinese mainland have been of great concern due to their adverse impacts on regional air quality and public health. To explore and obtain the temporal and spatial characteristics of NOx emissions from thermal power plants in China, a unit-based method is developed. The method assesses NOx emissions based on detailed information on unit capacity, boiler and burner patterns, feed fuel types, emission control technologies, and geographical locations. The national total NOx emissions in 2010 are estimated at 7801.6 kt, of which 5495.8 kt is released from coal-fired power plant units of considerable size between 300 and 1000 MW. The top provincial emitter is Shandong where plants are densely concentrated. The average NOx-intensity is estimated at 2.28 g/kWh, markedly higher than that of developed countries, mainly owing to the inadequate application of high-efficiency denitrification devices such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Future NOx emissions are predicted by applying scenario analysis, indicating that a reduction of about 40% by the year 2020 can be achieved compared with emissions in 2010. These results suggest that NOx emissions from Chinese thermal power plants could be substantially mitigated within 10 years if reasonable control measures were implemented effectively.

A Comprehensive Global Inventory of Atmospheric Antimony Emissions from Anthropogenic Activities, 1995–2010

Antimony (Sb) and its compounds are considered as global pollutants due to their health risks and long-range transport characteristics. A comprehensive global inventory of atmospheric antimony emissions from anthropogenic activities during the period of 1995-2010 has been developed with specific estimation methods based on the relevant data available for different continents and countries. Our results indicate that the global antimony emissions have increased to a peak at about 2232 t (t) in 2005 and then declined gradually. Global antimony emissions in 2010 are estimated at about 1904 t (uncertainty of a 95% confidence interval (CI): -30% ∼ 67%), with fuel combustion as the major source category. Asia and Europe account for about 57% and 24%, respectively, of the global total emissions, and China, the United States, and Japan rank as the top three emitting countries. Furthermore, global antimony emissions are distributed into gridded cells with a resolution of 1° × 1°. Regions with high Sb emissions are generally concentrated in the Southeastern Asia and Western Europe, while South Africa, economically developed regions in the eastern U.S., and Mexico are also responsible for the high antimony emission intensity.

Atmospheric emission inventory of multiple pollutants from civil aviation in China: Temporal trend, spatial distribution characteristics and emission features analysis

A detailed comprehensive emission inventory of multiple air pollutants from civil aviation in China for the historical period of 1980-2015 is developed by using an approach of combining bottom-up with top-down for the first time. Annual emissions of various pollutants present a rapidly ascending trend along with the increase of economic volume and population, which are estimated at approximately 4.77 kt HC, 59.63 kt CO, 304.77 kt NOx, 59,961 kt CO2, 19.04 kt SO2, 3.32 kt PM2.5, 1.59 kt BC, 1.06 kt OC and 5.44 t heavy metals (HMs), respectively, by the year 2015. We estimate the local emissions in 208 domestic civil airports and allocate the total cruise emissions onto 299 main domestic flight segments with surrogate indexes, such as route distance, cargo and passenger turnover. The results demonstrate that emission intensities in central and eastern China are much higher than those in northeastern and western China, and these regions are characterized with high population density, huge economy volume, as well as transit convenience. Furthermore, we have explored emission characteristics of multiple pollutants under different operation modes in 2015. For PM2.5, SO2/CO2/HMs and NOx, the emissions from cruise process constitute the dominant contributor with a share of 89%, 92% and 81%, of the associated total emissions, respectively, comparing with 76% and 71% of the total CO and HC emissions release from Landing and Take-off (LTO) process. Consequently, there are notably different emission characteristics from different flight processes due to various combustion status of aviation fuel. In addition, we predict the future trends of multi-pollutants emissions from Chinas civil aviation industry through 2050 under three scenarios, and the results indicate that the reduction from the improvement of new technology or new national standards would be largely offset by the rise in multi-pollutants emissions from rapidly aviation fuel growth.