scholarly journals Impacts of Coal Burning on Ambient PM<sub>2.5</sub> Pollution in China

Author(s):  
Qiao Ma ◽  
Siyi Cai ◽  
Shuxiao Wang ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
Randall V. Martin ◽  
...  

Abstract. High concentration of fine particles (PM2.5), the primary concern about air quality in China, is believed to closely relate to China’s large consumption of coal. In order to quantitatively identify the contributions of coal combustion in different sectors to ambient PM2.5, we developed an emission inventory for the year 2013 using up-to-date information on energy consumption and emission controls, and conducted standard and sensitivity simulations using the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. According to the simulation, coal combustion contributes 22 μg m−3 (40 %) to the total PM2.5 concentration at national level (averaged in 74 major cities), and up to 37 μg m−3 (50 %) in Sichuan Basin. Among major coal-burning sectors, industrial coal burning is the dominant contributor with a national average contribution of 10 μg m−3 (17 %), followed by coal combustion in power plants and domestic sector. The national average contribution due to coal combustion is estimated to be 18 μg m−3 (46 %) in summer and 28 μg m−3 (35 %) in winter. While the contribution of domestic coal burning shows an obvious reduction from winter to summer, contributions of coal combustion in power plants and industrial sector remain at relatively constant levels through out the year.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 4477-4491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiao Ma ◽  
Siyi Cai ◽  
Shuxiao Wang ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
Randall V. Martin ◽  
...  

Abstract. High concentration of fine particles (PM2.5), the primary concern about air quality in China, is believed to closely relate to China's large consumption of coal. In order to quantitatively identify the contributions of coal combustion in different sectors to ambient PM2. 5, we developed an emission inventory for the year 2013 using up-to-date information on energy consumption and emission controls, and we conducted standard and sensitivity simulations using the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. According to the simulation, coal combustion contributes 22 µg m−3 (40 %) to the total PM2. 5 concentration at national level (averaged in 74 major cities) and up to 37 µg m−3 (50 %) in the Sichuan Basin. Among major coal-burning sectors, industrial coal burning is the dominant contributor, with a national average contribution of 10 µg m−3 (17 %), followed by coal combustion in power plants and the domestic sector. The national average contribution due to coal combustion is estimated to be 18 µg m−3 (46 %) in summer and 28 µg m−3 (35 %) in winter. While the contribution of domestic coal burning shows an obvious reduction from winter to summer, contributions of coal combustion in power plants and the industrial sector remain at relatively constant levels throughout the year.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinghua Li ◽  
Junzan Han ◽  
Philip K. Hopke ◽  
Jingnan Hu ◽  
Qi Shu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Humic-like substances (HULIS) are a mixture of high molecular weight, water-soluble organic compounds that are widely distributed in atmospheric aerosol. Their sources are rarely studied quantitatively. Biomass burning is generally accepted as a major primary source of ambient humic-like substances (HULIS) with additional secondary material formed in the atmosphere. However, the present study provides direct evidence that residential coal burning is also a significant source of ambient HULIS, especially in the heating season in northern China based on source measurements, ambient sampling and analysis, and apportionment with source-oriented CMAQ modeling. Emissions tests show that residential coal combustion produces 5 to 24 % of the emitted organic carbon (OC) as HULIS carbon (HULISc). Estimation of primary emissions of HULIS in Beijing indicated that residential biofuel and coal burning contribute about 70 % and 25 % of annual primary HULIS, respectively. Vehicle exhaust, industry, and power plants contributions are negligible. Average concentration of ambient HULIS was 7.5 μg/m3 in atmospheric PM2.5 in urban Beijing and HULIS exhibited obvious seasonal variations with the highest concentrations in winter. HULISc account for 7.2 % of PM2.5 mass, 24.5 % of OC, and 59.5 % of water-soluble organic carbon, respectively. HULIS are found to correlate well with K+, Cl−, sulfate, and secondary organic aerosol suggesting its sources include biomass burning, coal combustion and secondary aerosol formation. Source apportionment based on CMAQ modeling shows residential biofuel and coal burning, secondary formation are important annual sources of ambient HULIS, contributing 57.5 %, 12.3 %, and 25.8 %, respectively.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Mazzolani ◽  
F. Pirozzi ◽  
G. d'Antonoi

Numerical models for the prediction of turbulent flow field and suspended solid distribution in sedimentation tanks are characterized by refined modeling of hydrodynamics, but apparently weak modeling of settling properties of suspensions. It is known that sedimentation tanks typically treat highly heterodisperse suspensions, whose concentrations range from relatively high to low values. However, settling is modeled either by considering one or more particle classes of different settling velocity, without accounting for hindered settling conditions, or by treating the suspension as monodisperse, even in regions of low concentration. A new generalized settling model is proposed to account for both discrete settling conditions in low concentration regions of the tanks and hindered settling conditions in high concentration regions. Settling velocities of heterodisperse suspensions are then determined as a function of particle velocities in isolation and their total concentration. The settling model is used in the framework of a transport model for the simulation of hydrodynamics and solid distribution in a rectangular sedimentation tank. Results show that solid distribution is mainly affected by particle interactions in the inlet region and by settling properties of individual particles in the outlet region. Comparison of the proposed settling model with other settling models suggests that a generalized approach of the modeling of settling properties of suspensions is a primary concern to obtain reliable predictions of the removal rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 01036
Author(s):  
Xiuru Liu ◽  
Yiqing Sun ◽  
Fangming Xue ◽  
Jingcheng Su ◽  
jiangjiang Qu ◽  
...  

SO3 is one of pollutants in flue gas of coal power plants. It mainly derived from coal combustion in boiler and selective catalytic reduction denitrification system. The content of SO3 in flue gas were influenced by the combustion mode, sulfur content in fuel, composition of denitrification catalyst and fly ash. SO3 and water vapour generated H2SO4 droplets. Sulfate secondary particles in atmosphere could cause haze, acid rain and other disastrous weather. High concentration of SO3 could cause blockage and corrosion and affect the safe operation of the units. The generation mechanism of SO3 was discussed. The latest research progress on control and removal technology of SO3 was summarized. The study in this paper provides a reference for pollutant treatment in coal-fired power plants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yogarajah Elakneswaran ◽  
Eiji Owaki ◽  
Toyoharu Nawa

Cementitious materials are one of the essential components for low- and intermediate-level waste disposal sites. Low-level nuclear waste from power plants consists of highly concentrated (~25 wt %) Na2SO4, and the wastes are solidified with cementitious materials. Degradation of cementitious materials that result from chemical and physical sulphate attack is a major concern in the safety of the waste disposal. In this study, hydration and reactive transport models, developed in previous works by the authors, were applied with Pitzer interactions coefficients to evaluate the long-term performance of Portland cement (PC) solidified with high concentration of Na2SO4. Expansive sulphate-bearing products of ettringite and mirabilite were formed and filled the pores in the hydrating PC with 25% of Na2SO4 by weight, but they were destabilised as temperature increased. Influence of Na2SO4 concentration and temperature on mineralogical changes is discussed. The simulation results from the reactive-transport model showed that the degradation of solidified Na2SO4 waste by cementitious materials exposed to 10% Na2SO4 for 1000 years is due to dissolution of mirabilite and secondary formation of ettringite, but not Na2SO4 crystallisation. The phases and porosity became stable close to exposure surface after 10 years, although the deterioration progressed from the surface to core with exposure time.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Benedek ◽  
K. T. Menzies ◽  
S. A. Johnson ◽  
R. P. Wilson ◽  
A. K. Rao ◽  
...  

Emissions of primary concern for coal-fueled diesel cogeneration and electric power plants are nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, the exhaust particulate size distribution and ash content are relevant to durability of the exhaust valves, turbocharger, and other engine components. This paper summarizes preliminary measurements of “uncontrolled” emissions in the exhaust of a Cooper-Bessemer 33-cm (13-in.) bore, 400 rpm, single-cylinder research engine, operated on “engine-grade” coal-water fuel (0.5 percent ash, 1 percent sulfur, 8 μm mean size coal). Based on these results, we present a preliminary evaluation of emission control options for satisfying hypothetical future emission standards for 2–50 MW power plants. The paper describes coal-diesel component subsystems such as (a) “reburning” for reducing NOx and hydrocarbon emissions, (b) high- and low-temperature injection of calcium sorbents for SO2 capture, and (c) high-temperature bag filters for control of fine particles. The expected performance of a conceptual, integrated control system is presented.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 900
Author(s):  
Ioanna Skoulidou ◽  
Maria-Elissavet Koukouli ◽  
Arjo Segers ◽  
Astrid Manders ◽  
Dimitris Balis ◽  
...  

In this work, we investigate the ability of a data assimilation technique and space-borne observations to quantify and monitor changes in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions over Northwestern Greece for the summers of 2018 and 2019. In this region, four lignite-burning power plants are located. The data assimilation technique, based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter method, is employed to combine space-borne atmospheric observations from the high spatial resolution Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and simulations using the LOTOS-EUROS Chemical Transport model. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service-Regional European emissions (CAMS-REG, version 4.2) inventory based on the year 2015 is used as the a priori emissions in the simulations. Surface measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from air quality stations operating in the region are compared with the model surface NO2 output using either the a priori (base run) or the a posteriori (assimilated run) NOx emissions. Relative to the a priori emissions, the assimilation suggests a strong decrease in concentrations for the station located near the largest power plant, by 80% in 2019 and by 67% in 2018. Concerning the estimated annual a posteriori NOx emissions, it was found that, for the pixels hosting the two largest power plants, the assimilated run results in emissions decreased by ~40–50% for 2018 compared to 2015, whereas a larger decrease, of ~70% for both power plants, was found for 2019, after assimilating the space-born observations. For the same power plants, the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) reports decreased emissions in 2018 and 2019 compared to 2015 (−35% and −38% in 2018, −62% and −72% in 2019), in good agreement with the estimated emissions. We further compare the a posteriori emissions to the reported energy production of the power plants during the summer of 2018 and 2019. Mean decreases of about −35% and−63% in NOx emissions are estimated for the two larger power plants in summer of 2018 and 2019, respectively, which are supported by similar decreases in the reported energy production of the power plants (~−30% and −70%, respectively).


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1267
Author(s):  
David Längauer ◽  
Vladimír Čablík ◽  
Slavomír Hredzák ◽  
Anton Zubrik ◽  
Marek Matik ◽  
...  

Large amounts of coal combustion products (as solid products of thermal power plants) with different chemical and physical properties cause serious environmental problems. Even though coal fly ash is a coal combustion product, it has a wide range of applications (e.g., in construction, metallurgy, chemical production, reclamation etc.). One of its potential uses is in zeolitization to obtain a higher added value of the product. The aim of this paper is to produce a material with sufficient textural properties used, for example, for environmental purposes (an adsorbent) and/or storage material. In practice, the coal fly ash (No. 1 and No. 2) from Czech power plants was firstly characterized in detail (X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), particle size measurement, and textural analysis), and then it was hydrothermally treated to synthetize zeolites. Different concentrations of NaOH, LiCl, Al2O3, and aqueous glass; different temperature effects (90–120 °C); and different process lengths (6–48 h) were studied. Furthermore, most of the experiments were supplemented with a crystallization phase that was run for 16 h at 50 °C. After qualitative product analysis (SEM-EDX, XRD, and textural analytics), quantitative XRD evaluation with an internal standard was used for zeolitization process evaluation. Sodalite (SOD), phillipsite (PHI), chabazite (CHA), faujasite-Na (FAU-Na), and faujasite-Ca (FAU-Ca) were obtained as the zeolite phases. The content of these zeolite phases ranged from 2.09 to 43.79%. The best conditions for the zeolite phase formation were as follows: 4 M NaOH, 4 mL 10% LiCl, liquid/solid ratio of 30:1, silica/alumina ratio change from 2:1 to 1:1, temperature of 120 °C, process time of 24 h, and a crystallization phase for 16 h at 50 °C.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 334
Author(s):  
Bo Zhao ◽  
Geng Chen ◽  
Zijiang Xiong ◽  
Linbo Qin ◽  
Wangsheng Chen ◽  
...  

Arsenic emission from coal combustion power plants has attracted increasing attention due to its high toxicity. In this study, it was found that there was a close relationship between the ash fusion temperature (AFT) and arsenic distribution based on the thermodynamic equilibrium calculation. In addition to the AFT, coal characteristics and combustion temperature also considerably affected the distribution and morphology of arsenic during coal combustion. Thus, an arsenic volatilization model based on the AFT, coal type, and combustion temperature during coal combustion was developed. To test the accuracy of the model, blending coal combustion experiments were carried out. The experimental results and published data proved that the developed arsenic volatilization model can accurately predict arsenic emission during co-combustion, and the errors of the predicted value for bituminous and lignite were 2.3–9.8%, with the exception of JingLong (JL) coal when combusted at 1500 °C.


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