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Characterization of Vehicular Emissions of Ammonia and Other Nitrogen-Containing Volatile Organic Compounds under Real-World Driving Conditions
JUN ZHENG, Dongsen Yang, Yan Ma, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
Abstract Number: 85
Working Group: Source Apportionment
Abstract
Ammonia (NH3) and amines are believed to play a pivotal role during nucleation processes in the atmosphere. Globally, agriculture-related activities may dominate NH3 and amines emissions. However, the most populated urban centers that are often suffered from severe haze events, are less likely impacted by agriculture emissions. In this work, we found that vehicular emissions may be the dominant source of NH3 and other nitrogen-containing volatile organic compounds (NVOCs, including amines and amides) in metropolitan areas. A set of curbside experiments were conducted to characterize NH3 and NVOCs emissions from motor vehicles (including gasoline-, diesel- and natural gas-powered automobiles) under real-world driving conditions. The emission character of each subject vehicle with respect to NH3 and NVOCs emitted per kilogram fuel consumed was inferred from synchronized CO2 measurements. Although NH3 emitted from any individual subject vehicle predominated that of NVOCs by orders of magnitude, vehicular emissions of amines still can be overwhelming comparing to their typical ambient background levels and can significantly impact nucleation processes based on recent field observations. The typical emission profiles (mass spectra) of each type of vehicle were also determined from this study, which could be a set of valuable information for the purpose of NH3 and NVOCs source apportionments and hence to formulate effective air pollution abatement strategies.