Jinsheng Chen

Precipitation chemistry of Lhasa and other remote towns, Tibet

Abstract Precipitation event samples during 1987–1988 field expedition periods and 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 have been collected at Lhasa, Dingri, Dangxiong and Amdo, Tibet. The sampling and analysis were based on WMO recommendations for a background network with some modifications according to local conditions and environmental characteristics. The following precipitation constituents and related parameters were measured: pH, conductivity, CO2 partial pressure, total suspended particles, and the content of K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe, Mn, NH4+, Cl−, NO2−, NO3−, SO 4 2− Br − , HCO3− and HPO42−. Some atmospheric dust samples have also been collected. Over 300 precipitation events have been measured for pH and conductivity. Among these, 60 have been analysed for their chemical components. The results show that Lhasas precipitation events were constantly alkaline with weighted averages of pH 8.36 in the 1987–1988 period, and 7.5 for 1997 to 1999. Only one event was weakly acidic during 1997–1999. Although CO2 partial pressure, a major producer of acidity in natural water on the Plateau, falls with increasing elevation, the lowest measured CO2 partial pressure can only raise pH value by 0.1 units in the sampling areas. Chemical analysis indicates that the major contributor to alkaline precipitation is the continental dust, which is rich in calcium. The analysis also shows that Tibet is still one of the cleanest areas in the world with little air pollution. However, the decline of pH from the 1980s to 1990s, which was reflected by an increase of NO3− and SO42− in precipitation, alerts us to the urgency of environmental protection in this fragile paradise.

Pollution characteristics of organic and elemental carbon in PM2:5 in Xiamen, China

Xiamen, located on the southeastern coastal line of China, is undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization, so its air quality has a trend of degradation. However, studies on level, temporal and spatial changes of fine particles (PM2.5) and their carbonaceous fractions are scarce. In this article, abundance, sources, seasonal and spatial variations, distribution of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in PM2.5, were studied at suburban, urban and industrial sites in Xiamen during four season-representative months in 2009-2010. PM2.5 samples were collected with middle volume sampler and were analyzed for OC and EC with thermal optical transmittance (TOT) method. Results showed that the annual average PM2.5 concentrations were 63.88-74.80 microg/m3 at three sites. While OC and EC concentrations were in the range of 15.81-19.73 microg/m3 and 2.74-3.49 microg/m3, respectively, and clearly presented the summer minima and winter maxima in this study. The carbonaceous aerosol accounted for 42.8%-47.3% of the mass of PM2.5. The annual average of secondary organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in Xiamen were 9.23-11.36 micro/m3, accounting for approximately 56% of OC. Strong correlations between OC and EC was found in spring (R2 = 0.50) and autumn (R2 = 0.73), suggesting that there were similar emission and transport processes for carbonaceous aerosols in these two seasons, while weak correlations were found in summer (R2 = 0.33) and winter (R2 = 0.41). The OC/EC ratios in PM2.5 varied from 2.1 to 8.7 with an annual average of 5.7, indicating that vehicle exhaust, coal smoke and biomass burning were main source apportionments of carbonaceous fractions in Xiamen.

Characteristics and sources of atmospheric mercury speciation in a coastal city, Xiamen, China

Semi-continental monitoring of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), particulate mercury (Hgp), and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) was conducted in the Institute of Urban Environment, CAS in Xiamen, China from March 2012 to February 2013. The average concentrations and relative standard deviations (RSD) were 3.50 (34.6%) ng m(-3), 174.41 (160.9%) pg m(-3), and 61.05 (113.7%) pg m(-3) for GEM, Hgp, and RGM, respectively. The higher concentrations of GEM and Hgp were observed in spring and winter months, indicating the combustion source, while RGM showed the different seasonal variation with highest concentration in spring and the minimum value in winter. The concentrations of Hg species were generally elevated in nighttime and low in daytime to reflect the diurnal changes in meteorology, especially the mixing condition of the air masses. The high Hg concentrations were observed in SWW-NW sectors due to calm wind while the low levels in NE-SE due to high speed wind, and the amplitude was much larger for Hgp and RGM. Backward trajectories calculation indicated that summer air masses were much more from ocean with lower Hg while the air masses were mainly from inland area in other seasons. Principal component analysis suggested that combustion and road traffic emissions were the dominant anthropogenic mercury sources for the study area, and the temporal distribution of atmospheric mercury was mainly the result of climatological change.

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and gas/particle partitioning in a coastal city, Xiamen, southeast China.

An intensive sampling program had been undertaken in autumn (October, 2008) and winter (December, 2008 and January, 2009) at urban (Xiamen University and Xianyue residential area), suburban (Institute of Urban Environment), industrial area (Lulian Hotel) and background (Tingxi Reservoir) in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to characterize the atmospheric concentration and gas-particle phase partitioning of PAHs. The average concentration of total PAHs in winter was almost 1.7 times higher than those in autumn. The log scale plot of Kp versus sub-cooled liquid vapor pressure (P(L)0 for all the data of autumn and winter season samples gave significantly different slopes. The slope for the winter samples (-0.72) was steeper than that for the autumn samples (-0.58). The partitioning results indicated that slope values varied depending on characteristics of specific site, source region and meteorological conditions which play important roles in the partitioning of PAHs. In addition, local emission sources had a stronger effect on partitioning results than long-transported polluted plume. The sources of PAHs in five sampling sites in Xiamen also have been discussed initially. Diagnostic ratios showed that the primary source of PAHs in urban, suburban and industrial area was from vehicle exhausts. While emission from petrochemical factory and power plant was another main contributor to industrial area.

Spatial distribution and sources identification of elements in PM2.5 among the coastal city group in the Western Taiwan Strait region, China

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial variations of 20 elements (Al, Si, Ti, Ca, Fe, Mg, Cr, Mn, Ni, P, S, K, Cu, Cl, V, Se, Br, As, Zn, and Pb) in PM(2.5) (particle matters ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) in the coastal city group in the Western Taiwan Strait (WTS) region, China during spring 2011. The average PM(2.5) mass concentration at 13 sites was 77.0 μg/m(3) and the elemental fraction accounted for about 10-20%. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) and a correlation matrix were used to identify the sources of elements in PM(2.5). The results revealed that the elements originated mainly from traffic emissions, coal combustion, pyrometallurgical processes, and crustal sources. Spatially, the concentrations of elements were generally higher in several rapidly growing locations, and the enrichment factors (EFs) for most elements were much higher at the northern sites than those at the southern sites, suggesting that the air quality in the northern part of the study area was strongly affected by anthropogenic activity. Backward wind trajectory analysis during the sampling period indicated that the concentrations of elements in PM(2.5) in the WTS region were greatly impacted by dust particles transported from Northern China in spring.

Source contributions to carbonaceous species in PM2.5 and their uncertainty analysis at typical urban, peri-urban and background sites in southeast China.

Determination of (14)C and levoglucosan can provide insights into the quantification of source contributions to carbonaceous aerosols, yet there is still uncertainty on the partitioning of organic carbon (OC) into biomass burning OC (OCbb) and biogenic emission OC (OCbio). Carbonaceous species, levoglucosan and (14)C in PM2.5 were measured at three types of site in southeast China combined with Latin hypercube sampling, with the objectives to study source contributions to total carbon (TC) and their uncertainties, and to evaluate the influence of levoglucosan/OCbb ratios on OCbb and OCbio partitioning. It was found reliably that fossil fuel combustion is the main contributor (62.90-72.23%) to TC at urban and peri-urban sites. Biogenic emissions have important contribution (winter, 52.98%; summer, 45.71%) to TC at background site. With the increase in levoglucosan/OCbb ratios, the contribution of OCbio is increased while OCbb is decreased in a pattern of approximate natural logarithm at a given range.

Characterization of mercury in atmospheric particulate matter in the southeast coastal cities of China

Although present in a low concentration in the atmosphere, mercury in particulate matter (PHg) plays an important role in the biogeochemical process of mercury. In this study, the mercury concentrations in three size fractions of airborne particulate matters collected from 14 sites (12 urban sites, 1 rural site and 1 remote site) in the southeast coastal cities of China during different seasons in 2010–2011 were investigated. Most of PHg (46.8–71.9%) was concentrated in the finer particles, i.e. PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter). The average mercury concentrations in PM2.5 were 141.2±128.1 (range of 7.6–956.5), 37.0±19.2 (5.6–89.4), and 24.0±14.6 (3.2– 59.9) pg m–3 at urban, rural, and remote sites during the whole sampling period, respectively. The PHg concentrations were almost at the same level in spring, autumn, and winter, approximately two times of that in summer. PHg concentrations in the atmosphere displayed a significant spatial variation with far higher values in urban areas than those at rural and remote sites. The dry deposition fluxes of total PHg estimated by a theoretical model were 38.3, 47.7, and 58.7 µg m–2 y–1 at Ji’an (JA), Jimei (JM), and Longwen (LW), respectively. The backward air trajectory analysis revealed that the atmospheric PHg concentrations were mainly influenced by air masses from ocean sources that diluted PHg in summer and on contrary from continental sources in other seasons.

Facile preparation of 3D ordered mesoporous CuOx–CeO2 with notably enhanced efficiency for the low temperature oxidation of heteroatom-containing volatile organic compounds

SBA-16 silica with intact surface hydroxyl groups was quickly obtained (5 min) via a fast-microwave-assisted method, and further adopted as an efficient template for the synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) ordered mesoporous CuOx–CeO2 catalysts (htpCCx) through a simple and reproducible host–guest interaction. XRD, XPS, H2-TPR, and Raman results reveal that many of the Cu2+ ions in htpCCx are incorporated into the CeO2 lattice, leading to the formation of a CuxCe1−xO2−δ solid solution, which produces a large number of oxygen vacancies and enhances the reducibility of the metal. The interaction of Cu and Ce is essential to the reaction as it maintains the Cu2+/Cu1+ and Ce4+/Ce3+ redox couples. The catalyst has a 3D mesostructure and possesses remarkably enhanced low-temperature activity for the combustion of epichlorohydrin. HtpCC20 has been identified as the most powerful catalyst for this reaction, with the reaction rate at 165 °C being about 6.3 and 33.3 times higher than those of catalysts synthesized using conventional incipient impregnation and thermal combustion methods, respectively. Furthermore, htpCC20 shows superior CO2 selectivity (>99%) and stability (no deactivation occurs after 50 h reaction). It is believed that the dispersion of the active phase, density of surface active oxygen, and low-temperature reducibility are the dominant factors governing the catalytic performance.

Spatial and temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere of Xiamen, China

An intensive sampling program was conducted from October 2008 to September 2009 at the five different environmental sites in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the gaseous and particulate phase, respectively. The PAHs concentrations at different sites were quite distinct during four seasons. The average concentrations of PAHs in winter were about 8.4 times higher than those in spring, and the concentrations of background were 0.56 times lower than those of industrial area. In addition, the higher temperature in summer affected the particle/gas partitioning of PAHs and led to the higher concentrations of gaseous PAHs. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs, which were employed to indicate the primary sources of PAHs in Xiamen, showed that the traffic vehicle exhaust was the largest contributor and the primary source for PAHs in Xiamen, especially in urban area; while the stationary combustion processes, such as petrochemical factories and power plants, were mainly responsible for PAHs sources in the industrial areas. The health risk of PAHs in the particulate phase was higher than those of the gaseous phase at the five sampling sites. The average toxic equivalent (BaPeq) of the benzo[a]pyrene values for PAHs were 0.14, 0.32, 1.38 and 3.59 ng m(-3) in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Furthermore, the results of average BaPeq in all four seasons indicated that the health risks of particulate PAHs were higher than those of the gaseous PAHs at different sampling sites.

Deactivation mechanism of de-NOx catalyst (V2O5-WO3/TiO2) used in coal fired power plant

Abstract The fresh and deactivated Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts used in a coal fired power plant were studied in a fixed bed reactor. The physical-chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by means of SEM-EDX, XRF, XPS, N2 adsorption/desorption, FT-IR, XRD and TG. The results showed that the used catalyst was seriously deactivated. The NOx removal efficiency and the specific surface area of the used catalyst (35.0%, 1.05 m2/g) were obviously less than those of the fresh catalyst (88.2%, 72.50 m2/g). The V5+ content in the deactivated catalyst was increased from 17.4% to 32.2% compared with the fresh one, and large quantities of Al2(SO4)3 can be found over the surface of the deactivated catalyst. The results of SEM and XRD showed that the thermal sintering occurred in the deactivated catalyst. Generally, the V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst deactivation can be interpreted by the valence change of V atoms, thermal sintering and aluminum sulfate formation over catalyst surface.