Emission and optical characteristics of brown carbon in size-segregated particles from three types of Chinese ships

Brown carbon(BrC)is one of the important light absorption substances that have high light absorption ability under short wavelength light.However,limit studies have focused on the BrC emission from ships.In this study,size-segregated particulate matters(PM)were collected from three different types of ships,light absorption characteristics and size distribution of methanol-soluble BrC and water-soluble BrC in PM from ship exhausts were investigated.Results showed that four-stroke low-power diesel fishing boat(4-LDF)had the highest mass concentrations of methanol-soluble organic carbon(MSOC)and water-soluble organic carbon(WSOC),followed by 2-stroke high-power heavy-fuel-oil vessel(2-HHV),and fourstroke high-power marine-diesel vessel(4-HMV).While 2-HHV had obviously higher light absorption coefficients of methanol-soluble BrC(Abs365,M)and water-soluble BrC(Abs365,W)in unit weight of PM than the other two types of ships.The tested ships presented comparable or higher absorption efficiency of BrC in water extracts(MAE365,W)compared with other BrC emission sources.Majority of BrC was concentrated in fine particles,and the particle size distributions of both Abs365,Mand Abs365,Wshowed bimodal patterns,peaking at0.43–0.65μm and 4.7–5.8μm,respectively.However,different particle size distributions were found for MAE365,Mbetween diesel and heavy fuel oil ships.Besides,different wavelength dependence in particles with different size were also detected.Ship exhaust could be confirmed as a non-ignorable BrC emission source,and complex influencing factor could affect the light absorption characteristics of ship emissions.Particle size should also be considered when light absorption ability of BrC was evaluated.

Significant coal combustion contribution to water-soluble brown carbon during winter in Xingtai, China: Optical properties and sources

To understand the characteristics of atmospheric brown carbon(BrC),daily PM2.5 samples in Xingtai,a small city in North China Plain(NCP),during the four seasons of 2018-2019,were collected and analyzed for optical properties and chemical compositions.The light absorption at 365 nm(abs λ=365 nm)displayed a strong seasonal variation with the highest value in winter(29.0±14.3 M/m),which was 3.2∼5.4-fold of that in other seasons.A strong correlation of abs λ=365 nm with benzo(b)fluoranthene(BbF)was only observed in winter,indicating that coal combustion was the major source for BrC in the season due to the enhanced domestic heating.The mass absorbing efficiency of BrC also exhibited a similar seasonal pattern,and was found to correlate linearly with the aerosol pH,suggesting a positive effect of aerosol acidity on the optical properties and formation of BrC in the city.Positive matrix factorization(PMF)analysis further showed that on a yearly basis the major source for BrC was biomass burning,which accounted for 34% of the total BrC,followed by secondary formation(26.7%),coal combustion(21.3%)and fugitive dust(18%).However,the contribution from coal combustionwas remarkably enhanced in winter,accounting for∼40%of the total.Our work revealed that more efforts of“shifting coal to clean energy”are necessary in rural areas and small cities in NCP in order to further mitigate PM2.5 pollution in China.