Sector-based VOCs emission factors and source profiles for the surface coating industry in the Pearl River Delta region of China

Zhuangmin Zhong; Qing'e Sha; Junyu Zheng; Zibing Yuan; Zongjiang Gao; Jiamin Ou; Zhuoyun Zheng; Cheng Li; Zhijiong Huang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.172

Sector-based VOCs emission factors and source profiles for the surface coating industry in the Pearl River Delta region of China

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Apr 1:583:19-28. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.172. Epub 2017 Jan 18.

Authors

Zhuangmin Zhong¹, Qing'e Sha¹, Junyu Zheng², Zibing Yuan¹, Zongjiang Gao³, Jiamin Ou⁴, Zhuoyun Zheng⁵, Cheng Li¹, Zhijiong Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
² College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: zhengjunyu_work@hotmail.com.
³ Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center, Shanghai 200235, PR China.
⁴ School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
⁵ Shenzhen Academy of Environmental Science, Shenzhen 51800, PR China.

PMID: 28109663
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.172

Abstract

Accurate depiction of VOCs emission characteristics is essential for the formulation of VOCs control strategies. As one of the continuous efforts in improving VOCs emission characterization in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, this study targeted on surface coating industry, the most important VOCs emission sources in the PRD. Sectors in analysis included shipbuilding coating, wood furniture coating, metal surface coating, plastic surface coating, automobile coating and fabric surface coating. Sector-based field measurement was conducted to characterize VOCs emission factors and source profiles in the PRD. It was found that the raw material-based VOCs emission factors for these six sectors ranged from 0.34 to 0.58kg VOCs per kg of raw materials (kg·kg^-1) while the emission factors based on the production yield varied from 0.59kg to 13.72t VOCs for each production manufactured. VOCs emission factors of surface coating industry were therefore preferably calculated based on raw materials with low uncertainties. Source profiles differed greatly among different sectors. Aromatic was the largest group for shipbuilding coating, wood furniture coating, metal surface coating and automobile coating while the oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) were the most abundant in the plastic and fabric surface coating sectors. The major species of aromatic VOCs in each of these six sectors were similar, mainly toluene and m/p-xylene, while the OVOCs varied among the different sectors. VOCs profiles in the three processes of auto industry, i.e., auto coating, auto drying and auto repairing, also showed large variations. The major species in these sectors in the PRD were similar with other places but the proportions of individual compounds were different. Some special components were also detected in the PRD region. This study highlighted the importance of updating local source profiles in a comprehensive and timely manner.

Keywords: Emission factor; Source profile; Surface coating; Uncertainty; VOCs.