Comparing emissions of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and metals from marine fuels and scrubbers

In January 2020, new global regulations were implemented to limit the maximum sulphur content in marine fuels. As an alternative to switch to compliant fuels, the regulations allow for installations of exhaust gas cleaning systems, e.g. scrubbers, that enables a continued use of less expensive heavy fuel oils (HFOs). Characterization of scrubber discharge water shows that the acidified water also becomes enriched with contaminants, and large quantities of metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are thus being discharged directly to the marine environment. When emissions of contaminants to the atmosphere and the marine environment are evaluated simultaneously, the results show that HFO, with scrubbers installed, generates higher emission factors of both metals and PAHs compared to MGO. This highlights the importance of including both the marine and the atmospheric perspective when comparing environmental loads and impact of contaminants from shipping

Modelling spatial dispersion of contaminants from shipping lanes in the Baltic Sea

Major sources of pollution from shipping to marine environments are antifouling paint residues and discharges of bilge, black, grey and ballast water and scrubber discharge water. The dispersion of copper, zinc, naphthalene, pyrene, and dibromochloromethane have been studied using the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model, the General Estuarine Transport Model, and the Eulerian tracer transport model in the Baltic Sea in 2012. Annual loads of the contaminants ranged from 10-2 tons for pyrene to 100 s of tons for copper. The dispersion of the contaminants is determined by the surface kinetic energy and vertical stratification at the location of the discharge. The elevated concentration of the contaminants at the surface persists for about two-days and the contaminants are dispersed over the spatial scale of 10-60 km. The Danish Sounds, the southwestern Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland are under the heaviest pressure of shipborne contaminants in the Baltic Sea

Modelling of discharges from baltic sea shipping

This paper describes the new developments of the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM) which enable the modelling of pollutant discharges to water from ships. These include nutrients from black/grey water discharges as well as from food waste. Further, the modelling of contaminants in ballast, black, grey and scrubber water, bilge discharges, and stern tube oil leaks are also described as well as releases of contaminants from antifouling paints. Each of the discharges is regulated by different sections of the IMO MARPOL convention, and emission patterns of different pollution releases vary significantly. The discharge patterns and total amounts for the year 2012 in the Baltic Sea area are reported and open-loop SOx scrubbing effluent was found to be the second-largest pollutant stream by volume. The scrubber discharges have increased significantly in recent years, and their environmental impacts need to be investigated in detail

Advances in air quality research – current and emerging challenges

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This review provides a community’s perspective on air quality research focusing mainly on developmentsover the past decade. The article provides perspectives on current and future challenges as well asresearch needs for selected key topics. While this paper is not an exhaustive review of all research areas in thefield of air quality, we have selected key topics that we feel are important from air quality research and policy perspectives. After providing a short historical overview, this review focuses on improvements in characterizingsources and emissions of air pollution, new air quality observations and instrumentation, advances in air qualityprediction and forecasting, understanding interactions of air quality with meteorology and climate, exposure andhealth assessment, and air quality management and policy. In conducting the review, specific objectives were(i) to address current developments that push the boundaries of air quality research forward, (ii) to highlightthe emerging prominent gaps of knowledge in air quality research, and (iii) to make recommendations to guidethe direction for future research within the wider community. This review also identifies areas of particular importancefor air quality policy. The original concept of this review was borne at the International Conferenceon Air Quality 2020 (held online due to the COVID 19 restrictions during 18–26 May 2020), but the articleincorporates a wider landscape of research literature within the field of air quality science. On air pollutionemissions the review highlights, in particular, the need to reduce uncertainties in emissions from diffuse sources,particulate matter chemical components, shipping emissions, and the importance of considering both indoor andoutdoor sources. There is a growing need to have integrated air pollution and related observations from bothground-based and remote sensing instruments, including in particular those on satellites. The research shouldalso capitalize on the growing area of low-cost sensors, while ensuring a quality of the measurements which areregulated by guidelines. Connecting various physical scales in air quality modelling is still a continual issue,with cities being affected by air pollution gradients at local scales and by long-range transport. At the same time,one should allow for the impacts from climate change on a longer timescale. Earth system modelling offers considerablepotential by providing a consistent framework for treating scales and processes, especially where thereare significant feedbacks, such as those related to aerosols, chemistry, and meteorology. Assessment of exposureto air pollution should consider the impacts of both indoor and outdoor emissions, as well as application of moresophisticated, dynamic modelling approaches to predict concentrations of air pollutants in both environments.With particulate matter being one of the most important pollutants for health, research is indicating the urgentneed to understand, in particular, the role of particle number and chemical components in terms of health impact,which in turn requires improved emission inventories and models for predicting high-resolution distributions ofthese metrics over cities. The review also examines how air pollution management needs to adapt to the abovementionednew challenges and briefly considers the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic for air quality.Finally, we provide recommendations for air quality research and support for policy.Peer reviewe

Advances in air quality research – current and emerging challenges

This review provides a community\u27s perspective on air quality research focusing mainly on developments over the past decade. The article provides perspectives on current and future challenges as well as research needs for selected key topics. While this paper is not an exhaustive review of all research areas in the field of air quality, we have selected key topics that we feel are important from air quality research and policy perspectives. After providing a short historical overview, this review focuses on improvements in characterizing sources and emissions of air pollution, new air quality observations and instrumentation, advances in air quality prediction and forecasting, understanding interactions of air quality with meteorology and climate, exposure and health assessment, and air quality management and policy. In conducting the review, specific objectives were (i) to address current developments that push the boundaries of air quality research forward, (ii) to highlight the emerging prominent gaps of knowledge in air quality research, and (iii) to make recommendations to guide the direction for future research within the wider community. This review also identifies areas of particular importance for air quality policy. The original concept of this review was borne at the International Conference on Air Quality 2020 (held online due to the COVID 19 restrictions during 18–26 May 2020), but the article incorporates a wider landscape of research literature within the field of air quality science. On air pollution emissions the review highlights, in particular, the need to reduce uncertainties in emissions from diffuse sources, particulate matter chemical components, shipping emissions, and the importance of considering both indoor and outdoor sources. There is a growing need to have integrated air pollution and related observations from both ground-based and remote sensing instruments, including in particular those on satellites. The research should also capitalize on the growing area of low-cost sensors, while ensuring a quality of the measurements which are regulated by guidelines. Connecting various physical scales in air quality modelling is still a continual issue, with cities being affected by air pollution gradients at local scales and by long-range transport. At the same time, one should allow for the impacts from climate change on a longer timescale. Earth system modelling offers considerable potential by providing a consistent framework for treating scales and processes, especially where there are significant feedbacks, such as those related to aerosols, chemistry, and meteorology. Assessment of exposure to air pollution should consider the impacts of both indoor and outdoor emissions, as well as application of more sophisticated, dynamic modelling approaches to predict concentrations of air pollutants in both environments. With particulate matter being one of the most important pollutants for health, research is indicating the urgent need to understand, in particular, the role of particle number and chemical components in terms of health impact, which in turn requires improved emission inventories and models for predicting high-resolution distributions of these metrics over cities. The review also examines how air pollution management needs to adapt to the above-mentioned new challenges and briefly considers the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic for air quality. Finally, we provide recommendations for air quality research and support for policy

Report on ship plume simulations and analysis. Deliverable D2.1.3.5 to project QUANTIFY

The nonlinear chemistry of ozone formation from oxides of nitrogen causes that NOx emissions, that are in a regional-scale or a global models distributed directly over large grid squares, form more ozone than if they were treated in a gradually dispersing plume. An efficient method of plume parameterisation has been described by Cariolle et al. (2009) where the plume stage of emission is treated as a tracer and parameterised reaction rates for ozone and NOx losses in plume are given for aircraft plume. The rates of reactions affecting ozone, NOx and OH have been studied with a plume model of Lagrangean type and a loss term for NOx and OH in plume is defined for the parameterisation.The nonlinear chemistry of ozone formation from oxides of nitrogen causes that NOx emissions, that are in a regional-scale or a global models distributed directly over large grid squares, form more ozone than if they were treated in a gradually dispersing plume. An efficient method of plume parameterisation has been described by Cariolle et al. (2009) where the plume stage of emission is treated as a tracer and parameterised reaction rates for ozone and NOx losses in plume are given for aircraft plume. The rates of reactions affecting ozone, NOx and OH have been studied with a plume model of Lagrangean type and a loss term for NOx and OH in plume is defined for the parameterisation

Hétérogénéité des particules émises par les moteurs diesel des navires

National audienceLes émissions de particules provenant des navires attirent de plus en plus l’attention des scientifiques en raison de leurs impacts sur l’environnement, sur la qualité de l’air et sur la santé en particuliers dans les zones portuaires et côtières (Corbett et al., 2007, Eyring et al. 2010). Le transport maritime international dans les mers bordant l’Europe émet plus de 20% du total de toutes les particules d’origine anthropique émises en Europe (www.emep.int). Les aérosols marins agissent comme des noyaux de nucléation dans la formation des gouttelettes des « ship tracks » et modifient les propriétés radiatives des nuages stratocumulus au sommet de la couche limite marine. Toutefois ces effets sont encore mal définis par rapport aux effets des particules émises par les transports terrestres et aériens et il est nécessaire de déterminer la relation qui existe entre les propriétés physico-chimiques de ces aérosols et leur capacité à agir comme noyau de nucléation. En effet, les particules émises par les moteurs diesel de navires ont des morphologies, des microstructures et des compositions chimiques spécifiques qui sont très différentes des particules de suies provenant de l’émission des autres modes de transport (Moldanova et al., 2013). Notamment, elles contiennent d’importantes quantités de métaux et de minéraux hygroscopiques qui favorisent la nucléation de gouttelettes. Cette étude permet ainsi d’avoir des « marqueurs atmosphériques » des particules émises par les moteurs diesel des navires.Actuellement ce travail s’effectue dans le cadre du projet européen SHEBA (http://www.sheba-project.eu/) dans lequel le CINaM est l’un des 11 partenaires provenant de 7 pays européens

Particules émises par les moteurs diesel des navires : véritables « marqueurs atmosphériques » de la combustion du fioul lourd

National audienceLe transport maritime international dans les mers bordant l’Europe émet plus de 20% du total de toutes les particules fines d’origine anthropique émises en Europe. Les émissions de particules fines provenant des navires attirent de plus en plus l’attention des scientifiques en raison de leurs possibles impacts sur l’environnement [1-3] et sur la santé dans les zones portuaires et côtières. Corbett et al. [4] ont en effet indiqué que ces émissions étaient responsables du décès de 60 000 personnes par maladie cardio-pulmonaire et cancer du poumon. Les particules fines émises par les navires agissent comme noyaux de nucléation dans la formation des gouttelettes des nuages et modifient les propriétés radiatives des nuages stratus au sommet de la couche limite marine. Toutefois ces effets sont encore mal définis par rapport aux effets des particules émises par les transports terrestres et il est nécessaire de déterminer la relation qui existe entre les propriétés physico-chimiques de ces aérosols et leur effet sur l’environnement et sur la santé. En effet, les particules émises par les moteurs diesel de navires ont des morphologies, des microstructures et des compositions chimiques très différentes des particules de suies provenant de l’émission des autres modes de transport [5-6]. Ces particules sont de véritables « marqueurs atmosphériques » de la combustion du fioul lourd par les moteurs diesel des navires.Ce travail s’est effectué dans le cadre du projet européen SHEBA (2015-2018) dans lequel le CINaM est l’un des 11 partenaires provenant de 7 pays européens.[1] P. R. Buseck and M. Posfai (1999), PNAS, 96(7), 3372-3379[2] J. J. Corbett et al. (2007), Environ. Sci. Technol., 41, 8512–8518.[3] V. Eyring et al. (2010), Atmos. Environ., 44, 4735–47710.[4] P. Hobbs et al. (2000), J. Atmos. Sciences, 57, 2570-2590.[5] J. Moldanova et al. (2013), Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 3577-3596.[6] M. Zetterdahl et al. (2016), Atmos. Environ., 145, 338-345

Påverkan på luftkvalitet i städer av utsläpp från närliggande jordbruk

IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet har på uppdrag av Naturvårdsverket undersökt hur stor påverkan utsläpp av ammoniak (NH3) från närliggande jordbruk har på stadsluften i Uppsala, med fokus på halterna av små partiklar (PM2.5) samt potential för utsläpps¬minskningar för att förbättra stadsluften från denna påverkan. Denna fråga är viktig att belysa eftersom utsläppen av NH3 från jordbruket inte förväntas minska i samma takt som utsläpp av andra luftföroreningar. Man har kunnat konstatera, i andra regioner, att det inte bara är viktigt att minska på utsläppen av svavel- och kväveoxider utan att även NH3-utsläppen behöver minskas. En jämförelse av skillnader i halterna av små partiklar och deras komponenter visar en ökad effekt av jordbruksemissioner av NH3 på vintern, då bidraget ökar från årsmedelvärden på 2,3 % och 1,2 % för regional bakgrund och centrala staden till 3,3 % och 1,6 % för vintermedelvärdet. Skillnaderna mellan säsongerna beror på ett flertal faktorer som exempelvis hur mycket NO3- och SO42- som finns tillgängligt för att bilda partiklar. På vintern är ammoniakutsläppen lägre och NOx- och SOx-utsläppen är relativt sett högre samtidigt som omblandningen är lägre jämfört med övriga delar av året. Detta gör i sin tur att kvoten mellan ammoniak och HNO3 och SO42- är lägre och en större del av ammoniakutsläppen kommer därför att bilda partikelformig NH4+. Under sommaren är, förutom den högre kvoten mellan NH3 och nitrat och sulfat, även kondensation av nitrat på partiklarna reducerad p.g.a. högre temperaturer vilket begränsar ammoniakens potential att bidra till partiklar ytterligare. Detta innebär att utsläpps¬minskningar av NH3 kan ha större effekt på vintern/hösten med avseende på bildning av sekundära aerosoler än under vår och sommar och kan vara jämförbar med effekten från ytterligare minskningar av SOx- och NOx-utsläpp, även om NH3-utsläppen är högre på våren och sommaren

Atmosfärkemisk modellstudie av termiskt och marint initierad bildning av oxidanter under svenska förhållanden

Saltpartiklars inverkan på oxidantbildning har studerats med en atmosfärkemisk trajektoriemodell. Resultaten tyder på att klorbildning från saltpartiklar vid närvaro av luftföroreningar, ozon och kväveoxider har en aktiverande inverkan på de kemiska gasfasprocesserna i atmosfären. Av stor betydelse kan dessa processer vara i kustnära områden om samtidigt stora mängder kväveoxider och andra ämnen som gynnar ozonbildning emitteras. Nitratradikalens inverkan på atmosfärkemin har studerats genom att beakta dess reaktion med alkaner och enklare alkener. Dessa reaktioner fungerar som en buffert av den kemiska aktiviteten i troposfären men de leder istället till förhöjda halter av organiska nitrater och kvävedioxid. Arbetet utgör en lämplig grund för fortsatta studier där en mer detaljerad kvantifiering av saltpartiklar betydelse i olika miljöer skall utvärderas.Saltpartiklars inverkan på oxidantbildning har studerats med en atmosfärkemisk trajektoriemodell. Resultaten tyder på att klorbildning från saltpartiklar vid närvaro av luftföroreningar, ozon och kväveoxider har en aktiverande inverkan på de kemiska gasfasprocesserna i atmosfären. Av stor betydelse kan dessa processer vara i kustnära områden om samtidigt stora mängder kväveoxider och andra ämnen som gynnar ozonbildning emitteras. Nitratradikalens inverkan på atmosfärkemin har studerats genom att beakta dess reaktion med alkaner och enklare alkener. Dessa reaktioner fungerar som en buffert av den kemiska aktiviteten i troposfären men de leder istället till förhöjda halter av organiska nitrater och kvävedioxid. Arbetet utgör en lämplig grund för fortsatta studier där en mer detaljerad kvantifiering av saltpartiklar betydelse i olika miljöer skall utvärderas