Real-world emission characteristics and inventory of volatile organic compounds originating from construction and agricultural machinery

Hongqian Che; Xianbao Shen; Zhiliang Yao; Bobo Wu; Runling Gou; Xuewei Hao; Xinyue Cao; Xin Li; Hanyu Zhang; Siwen Wang; Zhenyi Chen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164993

Real-world emission characteristics and inventory of volatile organic compounds originating from construction and agricultural machinery

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 10:894:164993. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164993. Epub 2023 Jun 19.

Authors

Hongqian Che¹, Xianbao Shen², Zhiliang Yao³, Bobo Wu⁴, Runling Gou¹, Xuewei Hao⁴, Xinyue Cao⁴, Xin Li⁴, Hanyu Zhang⁴, Siwen Wang⁴, Zhenyi Chen⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Ecology and Environment, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
² School of Ecology and Environment, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Food Chain Pollution Control, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China; China Food Flavor and Nutrition Health Innovation Center, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China. Electronic address: shenxianbao@btbu.edu.cn.
³ School of Ecology and Environment, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Food Chain Pollution Control, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China; China Food Flavor and Nutrition Health Innovation Center, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
⁴ School of Ecology and Environment, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Food Chain Pollution Control, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.

PMID: 37343865
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164993

Abstract

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions originating from nonroad mobile sources constitute an important but uncertain source of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) and ozone (O₃). In this study, we investigated the emission factors (EFs) of 120 individual VOC species for 40 machines via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detection and high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that the diesel-based VOC EF for the tested machines was 4.18 ± 2.55 (average ± standard deviation) g/kg fuel, dominated by alkanes (38.20 % ± 18.08 %) and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs; 30.94 % ± 15.71 %). The machine type, rated power, emission standards, and operating conditions affected the emissions of VOCs and their components, and this effect maybe mostly depends on the fuel combustion efficiency. The VOC species were primarily distributed in the C₁-C₂ and C₄-C₆ (based on the carbon number) and B₄-B₆ (based on the saturated vapor concentration) intervals. Furthermore, the estimated formation potential (FP) values of SOAs and O₃ from VOCs were 21.02 ± 15.57 mg/kg fuel and 15.96 ± 11.87 g/kg fuel, respectively. VOC control based on the SOA formation potential (SOAFP) and ozone formation potential (OFP) could be more effective in the mitigation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and O₃ pollution because the top 5 species ranked by percentage contribution accounted for 83.09 % ± 9.59 % and 51.78 % ± 14.38 % of the estimated SOAFP and OFP, respectively. Finally, the emission estimates showed that the VOC emissions originating from construction and agricultural machinery in China (2020) reached 64.05 and 95.24 Gg, respectively. We provide species-specific VOC EFs and detailed emission characteristics to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of gas emissions originating from nonroad mobile sources and an update of emission inventories and atmospheric chemistry models.

Keywords: Agricultural machinery; Construction machinery; Emission inventory; Ozone; Secondary organic aerosols; Volatile organic compounds.