Effects of Soluble Ions on Hydration of Calcined Flue Gas Desulphurization Gypsum

The influence of various water soluble cations(K^+,Na^+,Ca^2+,Mg^2+)on the hydration of calcined flue gas desulphurization gypsum was investigated.The results show that all cations but Ca^2+can accelerate the hydration of bassanite.The final crystal size is not largely influenced by different salts,except for Na^+,where the giant crystal with length of>130μm is observed.Current study clarifies the influence of different ions on the hydration of bassanite,which could provide sufficient guide for the pre-treatment of original flue gas desulphurization gypsum before actual application.

Chemical Composition of PM_(2.5) at an Urban Site of Chengdu in Southwestern China

PM2.5 aerosols were sampled in urban Chengdu from April 2009 to January 2010, and their chemical compositions were characterized in detail for elements, water soluble inorganic ions, and carbonaceous mat- ter. The annual average of PM2.5 was 165 btg m a, which is generally higher than measurements in other Chinese cities, suggesting serious particulate pollution issues in the city. Water soluble ions contributed 43.5% to the annual total PM2.5 mass, carbonaceous aerosols including elemental carbon and organic car- bon contributed 32.0%, and trace elements contributed 13.8~0. Distinct daily and seasonal variations were observed in the mass concentrations of PM2.5 and its components, reflecting the seasonal variations of dif- ferent anthropogenic and natural sources. Weakly acidic to neutral particles were found for PMz5. Major sources of PM2.u identified from source apportionment analysis included coal combustion, traffic exhaust, biomass burning, soil dust, and construction dust emissions. The low nitrate： sulfate ratio suggested that stationary emissions were more important than vehicle emissions. The reconstructed masses of ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, particulate carbonaceous matter, and fine soil accounted for 79% of the total measured PM2.5 mass; they also accounted for 92% of the total measured particle scattering.

Composition and mixing state of water soluble inorganic ions during hazy days in a background region of North China

Knowledge of haze particles in background areas of North China is limited, although they have been studied well in urban settings. Atmospheric aerosol particles were collected at a background site in the North China Plain during 16–31 January, 2011. Water soluble inorganic ions of PM2.5 and physicochemical characteristics of individual particles on hazy and clean days were measured by Ion Chromatography(IC) and Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM), respectively. Average PM2.5 mass concentration was 50.4±29.9 μg m?3 with 62.5±26.8 μg m?3 on hazy days and 19.9±11.5 μg m?3 on clean days. SO42?, NO3?, and NH4+ with a combined mass concentration of 19.0±11.5 μg m?3 accounted for 69.8%–89.4% of the total water soluble inorganic ions. Size distributions of SO42? and NH4+ showed one unimodal peak at 0.56–1.8 μm on hazy days, whereas NO3? appeared as bimodal peaks at 0.56–1.8 and 5.6–10 μm, respectively. Individual particle analyses showed that the dominant aerosols were a mixture of sulfate, nitrate, and carbonaceous species, which together determine their mixing states. 48-h air mass back trajectories on hazy days suggested that air masses crossed the polluted continental areas(such as Jing-jin-ji region and Shandong province) and entrained ground air pollutants 11–19 hours before reaching the background area. During long-range transport particles undergo ageing and tend to be internally mixed mainly due to condensation in the background atmosphere. Our results suggest that hygroscopic and optical properties of these aerosol particles in the background area differ substantially from those in urban areas.

Chemical composition of marine aerosols of the 26th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition

The ionic compositions of aerosol samples collected during the 26th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition were analyzed and the sources of ions were distinguished. Cl-, Na＋, SO2-, NO3-, and Mg2＋ were the most abundant ionic components in the marine aerosols. Cl- and Na＋ contributed over 70% in the total ionic composition, indicating the sea salt is still the primary composition in marine aerosols, followed by the sulfate as the secondary ionic component existed as NH4N03, NH4HSO4, （NH4）2S04. The maximal sea salt concentrations were found at around 40~S and could be attributed to greater winds. The concentrations of methane sulfonic acid （MSA） appeared increasing trend from the low to high latitudes, possibly caused by lower temperature in air and higher marine biological processes in the marginal waters in Antarctica. The correlation and factor analyzes were used to investigate possible sources of these ions. Cl-, Br-, Na＋, K＋, Mg2＋ and Ca2＋ had predominantly marine sources; while F-, NO3 and NH＋ had mostly anthropogenic sources; MSA had marine biogenic sources. The concentrations of SO42- were influenced by both marine and anthropogenic sources.

Chemical compositions of PM_(2.5) aerosol during haze periods in the mountainous city of Yong'an, China

Haze phenomena were found to have an increasing tendency in recent years in Yong＇an, a mountainous industrial city located in the center part of Fujian Province, China. Atmospheric fine particles （PM2.5） in the urban area during haze periods in three seasons （spring, autumn and winter） from 2007 to 2008 were collected, and the mass concentrations and chemical compositions （seventeen elements, water soluble inorganic ions （WSIIs） and carbonaceous species） of PM2.5 were determined. PM2.5 mass concentrations did not show a distinct difference among the three seasons. The carbonaceous species organic carbon （OC） and elemental carbon （EC） constituted up to 19.2%-30.4% of the PM2.5 mass during sampling periods, while WSIIs made up 25.3%-52.5% of the PM2.5 mass. The major ions in PM2.5 were SO42-, NO3- and NH4~, while the major elements were Si, K, Pb, Zn, Ca and A1. The experimental results （from data based on three haze periods with a 10-day sampling length for each period） showed that the crustal element species was the most abundant component of PM2.5 in spring, and the secondary ions species （SO42-, NO3-, NH4＋, etc.） was the most abundant component in PM2.5 in autumn and winter. This indicated that dust was the primary pollution source for PM2.5 in spring and combustion and traffic emissions could be the main pollution sources for PM2.5 in autumn and winter. Generally, coal combustion and traffic emissions were considered to be the most prominent pollution sources for this city on haze days.

Size distribution, characteristics and sources of heavy metals in haze episod in Beijing

Size segragated samples were collected during high polluted winter haze days in 2006 in Beijing, China. Twenty nine elements and 9 water soluble ions were determined. Heavy metals of Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu, As, Cr, Ni, V and Cd were deeply studied considering their toxic effect on human being. Among these heavy metals, the levels of Mn, As and Cd exceeded the reference values of National Ambient Air Quality Standard （GB3095-2012） and guidelines of World Health Organization. By estimation, high percentage of atmospheric heavy metals in PM2.5 indicates it is an effective way to control atmospheric heavy metals by PM2.5 controlling. Pb, Cd, and Zn show mostly in accumulation mode, V, Mn and Cu exist mostly in both coarse and accumulation modes, and Ni and Cr exist in all of the three modes. Considering the health effect, the breakthrough rates of atmospheric heavy metals into pulmonary alveoli are： Pb （62.1%） 〉 As （58.1%） 〉 Cd （57.9%） 〉 Zn （57.7%） 〉 Cu （55.8%） 〉 Ni （53.5%） 〉 Cr （52.2%） 〉 Mn （49.2%） 〉 V （43.5%）. Positive matrix factorization method was applied for source apportionment of studied heavy metals combined with some marker elements and ions such as K, As, SO42- etc., and four factors （dust, vehicle, aged and transportation, unknown） are identified and the size distribution contribution of them to atmospheric heavy metals are discussed.

Chemical characteristics and source apportionment of PM_(2.5) between heavily polluted days and other days in Zhengzhou, China

PM（2.5） samples were collected in Zhengzhou during 3 years of observation, and chemical characteristics and source contribution were analyzed. Approximately 96% of the daily PM（2.5） concentrations and annual average values exceeded the Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Daily and Annual Standards, indicating serious PM（2.5） pollution. The average concentration of water-soluble inorganic ions was 2.4 times higher in heavily polluted days（daily PM32.5 concentrations ＆gt; 250 μg/mand visibility ＆lt; 3 km） than that in other days, with sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium as major ions. According to the ratio of NO-3/SO2-4,stationary sources are still the dominant source of PM（2.5） and vehicle emission could not be ignored. The ratio of secondary organic carbon to organic carbon indicated that photochemical reactivity in heavily polluted days was more intense than in other days.Crustal elements were the most abundant elements, accounting for more than 60% of 23 elements. Chemical Mass Balance results indicated that the contributions of major sources（i.e., nitrate, sulfate, biomass, carbon and refractory material, coal combustion, soil dust,vehicle, and industry） of PM（2.5） were 13%, 16%, 12%, 2%, 14%, 8%, 7%, and 8% in heavily polluted days and 20%, 18%, 9%, 2%, 27%, 14%, 15%, and 9% in other days, respectively.Extensive combustion activities were the main sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during the episode（Jan 1-9, 2015） and the total benzo[a]pyrene equivalency concentrations in heavily polluted days present significant health threat. Because of the effect of regional transport, the pollution level of PM（2.5） in the study area was aggravated.

Chemical characteristics of PM_(2.5) during haze episodes in the urban of Fuzhou,China

Atmospheric fine particles （PM2.5） were collected in this study with middle volume samplers in Fuzhou, China, during both normal days and haze days in summer （September 2007） and winter （january 2008）. The concentrations, distributions, and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, organic carbon （OC）, elemental carbon （EC）, and water soluble inorganic ions （WSIls） were determinated. The results showed that the concentrations of PM2.s, PAHs, OC, EC, and WSIIs were in the orders of haze 〉 normal and winter〉 summer. The dominant PAHs of PM2.s in Fuzhou were Fluo, Pyr, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, BghiP, and IcdP, which represented about 80.0% of the total PAHs during different sampling periods. The BaPeq concentrations of ^-~PAHs were 0.78, 0.99, 1.22, and 2.43 ng/m3 in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Secondary pollutants （SO42 , NO3 , NH4＊, and OC） were the major chemical compositions of PM2.5, accounting for 69.0%, 55.1%, 63.4%, and 64.9% of PM2.s mass in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Correspondingly, secondary organic carbon （SOC） in Fuzhou accounted for 20.1%, 48.6%, 24.5%, and 50.5% of OC. The average values of nitrogen oxidation ratio （NOR） and sulfur oxidation ratio （SOR） were higher in haze days （0.08 and 0.27） than in normal days （0.05 and 0.22）. Higher OC/EC ratios were also found in haze days （5.0） than in normal days （3.3）. Correlation analysis demonstrated that visibility had positive correlations with wind speed, and neg- ative correlations with relative humidity and major air pollutants. Overall, the enrichments of PM2.5, OC, EC, SO42 ,andNO3 promoted haze formation. Furthermore, the diagnostic ratios of IcdP/（IcdP ＋ BghiP）, lcdP/BghiP, OC/EC, and NO3 /SO42 indicated that vehicle exhaust and coal consumption were the main sources of pollutants in Fuzhou.

Characteristics and sources of WSI in North China Plain:A simultaneous measurement at the summit and foot of Mount Tai

To better understand the characteristics and sources of water soluble ions(WSI) in North China Plain(NCP),fine particles(PM2.5) were simultaneously sampled at the summit(SM)and foot(FT) of Mount Tai during May 12th to June 24th,2017.Ion chromato graphy analysis showed that concentration of WSI was lower at SM(22.26±16.53 μg/m3) than that at FT(31.02±21.92 μg/m3).The concentration and proportion of SO4^2- in total WSI were both lower than the values reported in previous studies.Daytime WSI concentrations were higher than that at nighttime at SM,while the opposite results were obtained at FT,possibly associated with more anthropogenic activities and higher boundary layer height(BLH) during daytimes.A severe pollution event occurred during June 14 th-June 16th was documented at both FT and SM.Regional transport and topography-forced vertical transport along the slope of the mountain could explain the higher concentrations of pollutants at SM.The analyses also indicated that NH4^+ existed mainly in the form of NH4 HSO4 and NH4 NO3,but(NH4)2 SO4 could also exist,especially when emissions of NH4 and NH3 were increased during daytime at FT.The results of principal component analysis(PCA) illustrated that secondary aerosols,coal/biomass burnings,sea-salts and crustal/soil dusts were the main sources at SM,and secondary aerosols and crustal/soil dusts contributed most at FT.Backward air-mass trajectories were classified into four clusters,of which air masses with the highest frequency and WSI concentrations were originated from the southwest with secondary ions(SO4^2-,NO3-and NH4^+) as major pollutants.