Characterisation of single particles from in-port ship emissions

Emissions from shipping traffic may impact severely upon air quality in port cities. In this study, the size and composition of freshly emitted individual ship exhaust particles has been investigated using an aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS) co-located with a suite of real-time instrumentation at a site in the Port of Cork, Ireland. The collected spectra were clustered using the K-means algorithm and a unique ship exhaust class containing internally mixed elemental and organic carbon, sodium, calcium, iron, vanadium, nickel and sulfate was identified. Over twenty sharp emission events were observed for this particle type during the three week measurement period in August 2008. Coincident increases in mass concentrations of sulfate, elemental carbon and particles below 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) were also observed during these events. Simultaneous scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) measurements indicate that the vast majority of freshly emitted ship exhaust particles lie in the ultrafine mode (<100 nm diameter). A second particle class consisted of internally mixed organic carbon, elemental carbon, ammonium and sulfate, and is tentatively attributed to aged or regionally transported ship exhaust. The results suggest that ATOFMS single particle mass spectra, when used in conjunction with other air quality monitoring instrumentation, may be useful in determining the contribution of local shipping traffic to air quality in port cities.

[1]  A. Wexler,et al.  The character of single particle sulfate in Baltimore , 2004 .

[2]  J. MacQueen.  Some methods for classification and analysis of multivariate observations , 1967 .

[3]  Kimberly A. Prather,et al.  Size and Chemical Characterization of Individual Particles Resulting from Biomass Burning of Local Southern California Species , 1999 .

[4]  Murray V. Johnston,et al.  Source characterization and identification by real-time single particle mass spectrometry. , 2007 .

[5]  Kimberly A Prather,et al.  Recent advances in our understanding of atmospheric chemistry and climate made possible by on-line aerosol analysis instrumentation. , 2005, Analytical chemistry.

[6]  Axel Lauer,et al.  Emissions from international shipping: 1. The last 50 years , 2005 .

[7]  William A. Welch,et al.  Comprehensive simultaneous shipboard and airborne characterization of exhaust from a modern container ship at sea. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  E. Fridell,et al.  Characterisation of particulate matter and gaseous emissions from a large ship diesel engine , 2009 .

[9]  Daniel Wang,et al.  Identification and characterization of inland ship plumes over Vancouver, BC , 2006 .

[10]  Erin H. Green,et al.  Mortality from ship emissions: a global assessment. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[11]  D. Cooper,et al.  Exhaust emissions from ships at berth , 2003 .

[12]  Hiroshi Furutani,et al.  Impact of emissions from the Los Angeles port region on San Diego air quality during regional transport events. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[13]  David A Sodeman,et al.  Determination of single particle mass spectral signatures from light-duty vehicle emissions. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  David R. Cocker,et al.  In-use gaseous and particulate matter emissions from a modern ocean going container vessel , 2008 .

[15]  Erik Fridell,et al.  Primary particles in ship emissions , 2008 .

[16]  R. Harrison,et al.  Characterization of individual airborne particles by using aerosol time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry at Mace Head, Ireland , 2004 .

[17]  J. Corbett,et al.  Updated emissions from ocean shipping , 2003 .

[18]  Douglas W. Johnson,et al.  Emissions from Ships with respect to Their Effects on Clouds , 2000 .

[19]  K. Prather,et al.  Determination of single particle mass spectral signatures from heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions for PM2.5 source apportionment , 2007 .