K. Max Zhang

Modeling the number distributions of urban and regional aerosols: theoretical foundations

Abstract Recent studies suggest an association between particle number concentrations and adverse health effects in humans and laboratory animals. A photochemical model able to predict the particle number distribution and concentration will be very helpful to establish the association between emissions and air quality needed for developing rational emission control strategies. As the first step of the study, each term in the aerosol dynamic equation, namely condensation and evaporation, coagulation, gravitational settling, nucleation, advection, turbulent transport, emission, deposition and heterogeneous chemical reaction, is analyzed to estimate its influence on the overall number distributions under typical urban conditions.

Roadside vegetation barrier designs to mitigate near-road air pollution impacts

With increasing evidence that exposures to air pollution near large roadways increases risks of a number of adverse human health effects, identifying methods to reduce these exposures has become a public health priority. Roadside vegetation barriers have shown the potential to reduce near-road air pollution concentrations; however, the characteristics of these barriers needed to ensure pollution reductions are not well understood. Designing vegetation barriers to mitigate near-road air pollution requires a mechanistic understanding of how barrier configurations affect the transport of traffic-related air pollutants. We first evaluated the performance of the Comprehensive Turbulent Aerosol Dynamics and Gas Chemistry (CTAG) model with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to capture the effects of vegetation barriers on near-road air quality, compared against field data. Next, CTAG with LES was employed to explore the effects of six conceptual roadside vegetation/solid barrier configurations on near-road size-resolved particle concentrations, governed by dispersion and deposition. Two potentially viable design options are revealed: a) a wide vegetation barrier with high Leaf Area Density (LAD), and b) vegetation-solid barrier combinations, i.e., planting trees next to a solid barrier. Both designs reduce downwind particle concentrations significantly. The findings presented in the study will assist urban planning and forestry organizations with evaluating different green infrastructure design options.

On-road vehicle emissions and their control in China: A review and outlook.

The large (26-fold over the past 25years) increase in the on-road vehicle fleet in China has raised sustainability concerns regarding air pollution prevention, energy conservation, and climate change mitigation. China has established integrated emission control policies and measures since the 1990s, including implementation of emission standards for new vehicles, inspection and maintenance programs for in-use vehicles, improvement in fuel quality, promotion of sustainable transportation and alternative fuel vehicles, and traffic management programs. As a result, emissions of major air pollutants from on-road vehicles in China have peaked and are now declining despite increasing vehicle population. As might be expected, progress in addressing vehicle emissions has not always been smooth and challenges such as the lack of low sulfur fuels, frauds over production conformity and in-use inspection tests, and unreliable retrofit programs have been encountered. Considering the high emission density from vehicles in East China, enhanced vehicle, fuel and transportation strategies will be required to address vehicle emissions in China. We project the total vehicle population in China to reach 400-500 million by 2030. Serious air pollution problems in many cities of China, in particular high ambient PM2.5 concentration, have led to pressure to accelerate the progress on vehicle emission reduction. A notable example is the draft China 6 emission standard released in May 2016, which contains more stringent emission limits than those in the Euro 6 regulations, and adds a real world emission testing protocol and a 48-h evaporation testing procedure including diurnal and hot soak emissions. A scenario (PC[1]) considered in this study suggests that increasingly stringent standards for vehicle emissions could mitigate total vehicle emissions of HC, CO, NOX and PM2.5 in 2030 by approximately 39%, 57%, 59% and 79%, respectively, compared with 2013 levels. With additional actions to control the future light-duty passenger vehicle population growth and use, and introduce alternative fuels and new energy vehicles, the China total vehicle emissions of HC, CO, NOX and PM2.5 in 2030 could be reduced by approximately 57%, 71%, 67% and 84%, respectively, (the PC[2] scenario) relative to 2013. This paper provides detailed policy roadmaps and technical options related to these future emission reductions for governmental stakeholders.

Modeling Near-Road Air Quality Using a Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, CFD-VIT-RIT

It is well recognized that dilution is an important mechanism governing the near-road air pollutant concentrations. In this paper, we aim to advance our understanding of turbulent mixing mechanisms on and near roadways using computation fluid dynamics. Turbulent mixing mechanisms can be classified into three categories according to their origins: vehicle-induced turbulence (VIT), road-induced turbulence (RIT), and atmospheric boundary layer turbulence. RIT includes the turbulence generated by road embankment, road surface thermal effects, and roadside structures. Both VIT and RIT are affected by the roadway designs. We incorporate the detailed treatment of VIT and RIT into the CFD (namely CFD-VIT-RIT) and apply the model in simulating the spatial gradients of carbon monoxide near two major highways with different traffic mix and roadway configurations. The modeling results are compared to the field measurements and those from CALINE4 and CFD without considering VIT and RIT. We demonstrate that the incorporation of VIT and RIT considerably improves the modeling predictions, especially on vertical gradients and seasonal variations of carbon monoxide. Our study implies that roadway design can significantly influence the near-road air pollution. Thus we recommend that mitigating near-road air pollution through roadway designs be considered in the air quality and transportation management In addition, thanks to the rigorous representation of turbulent mixing mechanisms, CFD-VIT-RIT can become valuable tools in the roadway designs process.

Modeling spatial variations of black carbon particles in an urban highway-building environment.

Highway-building environments are prevalent in metropolitan areas. This paper presents our findings in investigating pollutant transport in a highway-building environment by combing field measurement and numerical simulations. We employ and improve the Comprehensive Turbulent Aerosol Dynamics and Gas Chemistry (CTAG) model to simulate the spatial variations of black carbon (BC) concentrations near highway I-87 and an urban school in the South Bronx, New York. The results of CTAG simulations are evaluated against and agree adequately with the measurements of wind speed, wind directions, and BC concentrations. Our analysis suggests that the BC concentration at the measurement point of the urban school could decrease by 43-54% if roadside buildings were absent. Furthermore, we characterize two generalized conditions in a highway-building environment, i.e., highway-building canyon and highway viaduct-building. The former refers to the canyon between solid highway embankment and roadside buildings, where the spatial profiles of BC depend on the equivalent canyon aspect ratio and flow recirculation. The latter refers to the area between a highway viaduct (i.e., elevated highway with open space underneath) and roadside buildings, where strong flow recirculation is absent and the spatial profiles of BC are determined by the relative heights of the highway and buildings. The two configurations may occur at different locations or in the same location with different wind directions when highway geometry is complex. Our study demonstrates the importance of incorporating highway-building interaction into the assessment of human exposure to near-road air pollution. It also calls for active roles of building and highway designs in mitigating near-road exposure of urban population.

Impact of local traffic exclusion on near-road air quality: Findings from the New York City “Summer Streets” campaign

We monitored curbside airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations and its proinflammatory capacity during 3 weekends when vehicle traffic was excluded from Park. Ave., New York City. Fine PM concentration peaked in the morning regardless of traffic while ultrafine PM was 58% lower during mornings without traffic. Ultrafine PM concentration varied linearly with traffic flow, while fine PM spiked sharply in response to random traffic events that were weakly correlated with the traffic signal cycle. Ultrafine PM concentrations decayed exponentially with distance from a cross street with unrestricted traffic flow, reaching background levels within 100 m of the source. IL-6 induction was typically highest on Friday afternoons but showed no clear relationship to the presence of traffic. The coarse fraction (>2.5 μm) had the greatest intrinsic inflammatory capacity, suggesting that coarse PM still warrants attention even as the research focus is shifting to nano-particles.

Near-Road Modeling and Measurement of Cerium-Containing Particles Generated by Nanoparticle Diesel Fuel Additive Use

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (nCe) are used as a fuel-borne catalyst in diesel engines to reduce particulate emissions, yet the environmental and human health impacts of the exhaust particles are not well understood. To bridge the gap between emission measurements and ambient impacts, size-resolved measurements of particle composition and mass concentration have been performed in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, where buses have used an nCe additive since 2005. These observations show that the noncrustal cerium fraction thought to be associated with the use of nCe has a mass concentration ∼ 0.3 ng m(-3) with a size distribution peaking at 100-320 nm in aerodynamic diameter. Simulations with a near-roadway multicomponent sectional aerosol dynamic model predict that the use of nCe additives increases the number concentration of nuclei mode particles (<50 nm in diameter) while decreasing the total mass concentration. The near-road model predicts a downwind mass size distribution of cerium-containing particles peaking at 150 nm in aerodynamic diameter, a value similar to that measured for noncrustal cerium in Newcastle. This work shows that both the emission and atmospheric transformation of cerium-containing particles needs to be taken into account by regional modelers, exposure scientists, and policymakers when determining potential environmental and human health impacts.

Model predictive control of thermal storage for demand response

Buildings with thermal storage use it mainly to shift cooling loads. Ice or chilled water is produced when electricity prices are low and stored to provide cooling when prices are high. While this price-based load shifting has value for power system operators, buildings with thermal storage could provide more direct grid services by reacting to demand charges and demand response calls. In this paper, we consider the problem of cooling a building under these incentives. The context is a New York City office building with passive and active thermal storage, subject to Consolidated Edisons (ConEds) default rate plan for large commercial buildings. This rate plan includes a three-tiered demand charge and hourly energy prices determined by the system operators day-ahead dispatch. We also model a ConEd demand response program, and consider the thermal comfort of building occupants. The problem is formulated in the language of stochastic optimal control and solved approximately using model predictive control (MPC). Extending previous work on MPC of thermal storage, which has focused on dynamic energy prices, we include the full set of economic incentives directly in the stage and terminal costs. Simulations of the hottest day of 2013 demonstrate the value of realistic economic modeling. They also highlight an interesting tension between the various incentives, which all compete for shiftable load.

Analyses of Turbulent Flow Fields and Aerosol Dynamics of Diesel Engine Exhaust Inside Two Dilution Sampling Tunnels Using the CTAG Model

Experimental results from laboratory emission testing have indicated that particulate emission measurements are sensitive to the dilution process of exhaust using fabricated dilution systems. In this paper, we first categorize the dilution parameters into two groups: (1) aerodynamics (e.g., mixing types, mixing enhancers, dilution ratios, residence time); and (2) mixture properties (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, particle size distributions of both raw exhaust and dilution gas). Then we employ the Comprehensive Turbulent Aerosol Dynamics and Gas Chemistry (CTAG) model to investigate the effects of those parameters on a set of particulate emission measurements comparing two dilution tunnels, i.e., a T-mixing lab dilution tunnel and a portable field dilution tunnel with a type of coaxial mixing. The turbulent flow fields and aerosol dynamics of particles are simulated inside two dilution tunnels. Particle size distributions under various dilution conditions predicted by CTAG are evaluated against the experimental data. It is found that in the area adjacent to the injection of exhaust, turbulence plays a crucial role in mixing the exhaust with the dilution air, and the strength of nucleation dominates the level of particle number concentrations. Further downstream, nucleation terminates and the growth of particles by condensation and coagulation continues. Sensitivity studies reveal that a potential unifying parameter for aerodynamics, i.e., the dilution rate of exhaust, plays an important role in new particle formation. The T-mixing lab tunnel tends to favor the nucleation due to a larger dilution rate of the exhaust than the coaxial mixing field tunnel. Our study indicates that numerical simulation tools can be potentially utilized to develop strategies to reduce the uncertainties associated with dilution samplings of emission sources.

Characterizing particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions from diesel vehicles using a portable emissions measurement system

Particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (p-PAHs) emitted from diesel vehicles are of concern because of their significant health impacts. Laboratory tests, road tunnel and roadside experiments have been conducted to measure p-PAH emissions. While providing valuable information, these methods have limited capabilities of characterizing p-PAH emissions either from individual vehicles or under real-world conditions. We employed a portable emissions measurement (PEMS) to measure real-world emission factors of priority p-PAHs for diesel vehicles representative of an array of emission control technologies. The results indicated over 80% reduction in p-PAH emission factors comparing the China V and China II emission standard groups (113 μg kg−1 vs. 733 μg kg−1). The toxicity abatement in terms of Benzo[a]pyrene equivalent emissions was substantial because of the large reductions in highly toxic components. By assessing real traffic conditions, the p-PAH emission factors on freeways were lower than on local roads by 52% ± 24%. A significant correlation (R2~0.85) between the p-PAH and black carbon emissions was identified with a mass ratio of approximately 1/2000. A literature review indicated that diesel p-PAH emission factors varied widely by engine technology, measurement methods and conditions, and the molecular diagnostic ratio method for source apportionment should be used with great caution.