Lien-Te Hsieh

Profiles of PAH emission from steel and iron industries

In order to characterize the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emission from steel and iron industries, this study measured the stack emission of twelve steel and iron plants in southern Taiwan to construct a set of source fingerprints. The study sampled the emissions by the USEPAs sampling method 5 with the modification of Graseby for the gas and particulate phase PAH and, then, used Hewlett-Packard 5890 gas chromatograph equipped with mass spectrometer detector to analyze the samples. The steel and iron industries are classified into three categories on the basis of auxiliary energy source: Category I uses coal as fuel, Category II uses heavy oil as fuel and Category III uses electric arc furnace. The pollution source profiles are obtained by averaging the ratios of individual PAH concentrations to the total concentration of 21 PAHs and total particulate matter measured in this study. Results of the study show that low molecular weight PAHs are predominant in gas plus particulate phase for all three categories. For particulate phase PAHs, however, the contribution of large molecular weight compounds increases. Two-ring PAHs account for the majority of the mass, varying from 84% to 92% with an average of 89%. The mass fractions of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-ring PAHs in Category I are found to be more than those of the other two categories. The mass of Category III is dominated by 7-ring PAHs. Large (or heavy) molecular weight PAHs (HMW PAHs) are carcinogenic. Over all categories, these compounds are less than 1% of the total-PAH mass on the average. The indicatory PAHs are benz[a]anthracene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[ghi]perylene for Category I, benzo[a]pyrene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene for Category II and coronene, pyrene, benzo[b]chrycene for Category III. The indicatory PAHs among categories are very different. Thus, dividing steel and iron industry into categories by auxiliary fuel is to increase the precision of estimation by a receptor model. Average total-PAH emission factors for coal, heavy oil and electric arc furnace were 4050 microg/kg-coal, 5750 microg/l-oil, 2620 microg/kW h, respectively. Carcinogenic benzo[a]pyrene for gas plus particulate phase was 2.0 g/kg-coal, 2.4 microg/l-oil and 1.4 microg/kW h for Category I, II and III, respectively.

Emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from medical waste incinerators

Abstract This study was conducted on two batch-type medical waste incinerators (MWIs), including the one with a mechanical grate (MG-MWI) and the other with a fixed grate (FG-MWI) for the disposal of general medical waste and special medical waste, respectively. Both incinerators shared the same air-pollution control devices which were installed in series, including one electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and one wet scrubber (WSB). In addition to the investigated emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from both types of MWIs, the PAH removal efficiencies of air-pollution control devices were also included. In this study, the GC/MS technique was used to analyze the concentrations of 21 PAH species contained in the stack flue gas, ESP fly ash, WSB effluent, and incinerating ash. Results show that total-PAHs (i.e., the sum of 21 PAH species) in stack flue gas were dominated by LM-PAHs (i.e., two- to three-ringed PAHs), but in incinerating ash, ESP fly ash and WSB effluent we found that they were dominated by MM-PAHs (i.e., four-ringed PAHs) and HM-PAHs (i.e., five- to seven-ringed PAHs) for both types of MWIs. The above results due to air-pollution control devices used in both types of MWIs had much higher removal efficiencies on both MM-PAHs and HM-PAHs (>78%) than on LM-PAHs (

PAH emission from the incineration of three plastic wastes.

A batch-type, controlled-air incinerator was used for the treatment of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polypropylene (PP) plastic wastes. The concentration and composition of 21 individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the raw wastes, flue gas (gas and particle phases), and ash were determined. Stack flue-gas samples were collected by a PAH stack-sampling system. Twenty-one individual PAHs were analyzed primarily by a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The CO concentration correlated well with the total PAH (R2 > .89), and thus can be used as a surrogate indicator for PAH emission. Excess amounts of air supply in the incineration of plastic wastes could decrease not only the concentration of the PAHs in the bottom ash but also the emission factor (EF) of the total PAH in the stack flue gas. Of the three plastic wastes, HDPE was found to have the highest mean EF of the total PAHs (462.3 mg/kg waste) from the stack flue gas. Incinerating PVC would result in a higher EF of PAHs (195.4 mg/kg waste) in the bottom ash. When PVC plastic wastes were incinerated, higher-ringed PAHs constituted a larger percentage in the bottom ash as compared to those from PP and HDPE plastics. By judging the output and input (O/I) ratio of the PAHs from the incineration trials of plastic wastes, the PAHs involved in incineration of three plastic wastes were almost entirely destroyed; and a low residual amount between 0.00018 and 0.00032 remained in the emission.

The fate of PAHs in the carbon black manufacturing process

Abstract This study measured PAHs contained in the feedstock oil, carbon black products, and stack flue gas, then the fate of PAHs was assessed from the mass balance point of view for a carbon black manufacturing process. Results show the carbon black manufacturing process would result in the depletion of total-PAHs and the summation of top three carcinogenic PAH species (i.e., BbF+BaP+DBA) up to 98.15% and 99.83%, respectively. The above results suggest that the carbon black manufacturing process would result in not only the decrease of the amount of total-PAHs, but also the carcinogenic potencies of PAHs originally contained in the feedstock oil. Regarding PAHs contained in the carbon black products and stack flue gas, this study suggest they might be resulted mostly from high-temperature pyrolytic process, rather than the PAHs originally contained in the feedstock oil. For the carbon black manufacturing industry, since the soot (i.e., the carbon black) was completely collected as its final product, therefore most of carbon black-bearing PAHs did not directly release to atmosphere. On the other hand, PAHs contained in the stack flue gas were directly exhausted to the atmosphere and thus were assessed in this study. The results show the emission rates for total-PAHs and BbF+BaP+DBA for the stack flue gas were 2.18xa0kg/day and 1.50xa0g/day, respectively, which were approximately 25% and 40% of those exhausted from a municipal incinerator with a treatment capacity of 300xa0metric tons/day. It is concluded that the carbon black manufacturing process might not be a significant PAHs emission source, as compared to the municipal incinerator.

Decomposition of carbon dioxide in the RF plasma environment

Application of radio-frequency (RF) plasma as an alternative technology for the decomposition of carbon dioxide with methane gas is demonstrated. The results of this study revealed that in CO2/CH4/Ar plasma, the best decomposition fraction of carbon dioxide was 60·0%, which occurs around 316°C in the condition designed for 5% feeding concentration of CO2, 5% feeding concentration of CH4, 20 torr operation pressure, 100 sccm total gas flow rate and 90 watts input power wattage. The CH, CH2 and CH3 radicals obtained from the destruction of CH4 could result effectively in high decomposition of CO2 in the plasma reactor. The optimal mathematical models based on the experimental data obtained were also developed and tested by means of sensitivity analysis, which shows that the input power wattage (W) was the most sensitive parameter for the CO2 decomposition.

Decomposition of methyl chloride by using an RF plasma reactor

Abstract Application of radio-frequency (RF) plasma as an alternative technology for the decomposition of methyl chloride (CH 3 Cl) with oxygen is demonstrated. The results of this study revealed that, in the CH 3 Cl/O 2 /Ar plasma, the decomposition fraction of CH 3 Cl was over 99.99%, which occurred at the condition designed for 3% of CH 3 Cl feeding concentration, 1.0 of equivalence ratio ( φ ), 20 Torr of operation pressure, 100 sccm of total gas flow rate and 100 W of input power wattage. Higher input power wattage can increase both the CH 3 Cl decomposition efficiency and the fraction of total-carbon input converted into [CO 2 +CO], resulting in the reduction of the harmful products (COCl 2 ) effluent concentration. However, more soot was found in the plasma reactor when the input power wattage was higher than 70 W. The species detected in the effluent gas stream included CO, CO 2 , H 2 O, HCl, CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 2 H 3 Cl, C 2 H 5 Cl and COCl 2 . The optimal mathematical models based on obtained experimental data were also developed and tested by means of the sensitivity analysis, which showed that the input power wattage (W) was the most sensitive parameter for both CH 3 Cl decomposition and temperature elevation in the RF plasma reactor.

Dry deposition of sulfate-containing particulate at the highway intersection, coastal and suburban areas

Sulfate-containing aerosol (SCA) dry deposition at the highway intersection, coastal location, and suburban area in Taiwan were analyzed and compared. Sampling was accomplished with a surrogate surface technique. Samples particles were coated with barium chloride (BaCl(2)) in a vacuum evaporator and then exposed to a relative humidity of 85% for 2 h to form distinctive products of SCAs. Treated samples were examined by a scanning electron microscopy. SCA dry deposition fluxes were 10.2, 4.1, 3.4 microgm(-2)s(-1) and nonsulfate-containing aerosol (NSCA) dry deposition fluxes were 23.3, 8.2, 13.5 microgm(-2)s(-1) at the highway intersection, coastal, and suburban areas. At the highway intersection, both SCA and NSCA dry deposition fluxes were much higher than those at the other two sites. The dry deposition of particles was also analyzed with a traditional technique. The number median diameters (NMDs) of SCA were 0.41, 0.82, and 1.2 mum at the highway intersection, coastal, and suburban sites, respectively. The highway intersection site had a small NMD, which showed that most sulfate-containing deposited aerosols existed in fine diameter range. The mass median diameters (MMDs) of SCA were 8.8, 19.5, and 14.9 mum at the highway intersection, coastal, and suburban sites, which were much higher than NMDs. Average numbers of SCAs in total particulate were 33%, 33%, and 22% at the highway intersection, coastal and suburban areas Most deposited particulates were nonsulfate-containing at the three sampling sites. SCAs less than 10 mum contributed 29%, 8%, and 7% to the total dry deposition at the highway intersection, coastal, and suburban areas, respectively. The contribution of fine particulate was significantly higher at the highway intersection site.

Vertical and diurnal characterization of volatile organic compounds in ambient air in urban areas.

ABSTRACT More than half of the worlds population lives in cities, and their populations are rapidly increasing. Information on vertical and diurnal characterizations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban areas with heavy ambient air pollution can help further understand the impact of ambient VOCs on the local urban environment. This study characterized vertical and diurnal variations in VOCs at 2, 13, 32, 58, and 111 m during four daily time periods (7:00 to 9:00 a.m., 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.) at the upwind of a high-rise building in downtown, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The study used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to analyze air samples collected by silica-coated canisters. The vertical distributions of ambient VOC profiles showed that VOCs tended to decrease at greater heights. However, VOC levels were found to be higher at 13 m than at ground level at midnight from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and higher at 32 than 13 m between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. These observations suggest that vertical dispersion and dilution of airborne pollutants could be jointly affected by local meteorological conditions and the proximity of pollution sources. The maximum concentration of VOCs was recorded during the morning rush hours from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., followed by rush hours from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., hours from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and hours from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., indicating that the most VOC compounds in urban air originate from traffic and transportation emissions. The benzene-toluene-ethyl benzene-xylene (BTEX) source analysis shows that BTEX at all heights were mostly associated with vehicle transportation activities on the ground. IMPLICATIONS The vertical distributions of ambient VOC profiles tend to decrease with height. However, levels of VOCs that originate from upwind industrial sources can accumulate at higher altitudes because of thermal inversions. These observations suggest that vertical dispersion and dilution of airborne pollutants could be jointly affected by local meteorological conditions and the proximity of pollution sources. Whether such vertical variation in VOC profiles can affect the prediction of air quality model is of interest and needs to be considered in future air quality management.

Cluster Analysis for Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans Concentrations in Southern Taiwan

Abstract This study investigates the characteristics of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in the ambient air of two municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs: GS and RW) and a coal-fired power plant (PW) in the Kaohsiung County (KC) area in Taiwan. The results show that the toxic equivalency (TEQ) concentration in the flue gas of GS and RW averaged 0.090 and 0.044 ng international toxic equivalents (I-TEQ)/N·m3, respectively. The TEQ concentration in the flue gas of PW averaged 0.050 ng I-TEQ/N·m3. All PCDD/Fs concentrations from the stack flue gas are lower than the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration emission standard. Furthermore, the mean I-TEQ concentration in the ambient atmosphere ranged from approximately 0.019 to 0.165 pg I-TEQ/N·m3, much lower than the environmental quality standards for dioxins in Japan (0.6 pg TEQ/N·m3). This work classified all sampling sites into three clusters according to k-means cluster analysis. The result shows a probable direct correlation between the GS incinerator and site C. Although the concentration from the PW plant did not exceed the emission standard, it was much higher than that in Fernández-Martínez’s study. For proper environmental management of dioxins, establishing a complete emission inventory of PCDD/Fs is necessary. The government of Taiwan should particularly pay more attention to power plants to address the information shortage.

Decomposition of ethoxyethane in the cold plasma environment

A radio frequency (RF) plasma system was used to decompose the ethoxyethane (EOE) contained gas. The reactants and final products were analyzed by using an FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometer. The effects of plasma operational parameters, including input power wattage (W), equivalence ratios (Φ), feeding concentration (C) of EOE and total gas flow rate (Q) for EOE decomposition were evaluated. In addition, the possible reaction pathways for EOE decomposition and the formation of final products were built up and are discussed in this paper. The mole fraction profiles of C2H5OC2H5, CH3CHO, CH4, C2H6, C2H4, C2H2, CO2 and CO were detected and are also presented in this paper. At lower input power wattages, the creation of glow discharge is strongly dependent on the plasma production index (PPI). When input power wattages are smaller than 30u2009W, the minimum values of PPI to create glow discharge ranged between 18.2 and 19.0. The results of this study revealed that, in the RF plasma reactor, the decomposition fraction of EOE could reach 100% under most operational conditions. n n n n© 2000 Society of Chemical Industry