A preliminary investigation on emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls from coke plants in China

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThermal related processes are widely recognized as the main sources of formation and emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is well known that, carbonization of coal in coke production involves many thermal reactions at high-temperature. However, there are still no strong evidences to identify coking processes as source of PCDD/Fs and PCBs. In this study, coke production was qualified and quantified for emission of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) in some typical coke plants in China. In the preliminary investigation, stack gases from three typical coke plants were collected, and dl-PCBs and 2378-substituted PCDD/Fs were analyzed by isotope dilution HRGC/HRMS technique. The total toxic equivalents of dl-PCBs and PCDD/Fs were in the range of 1.6-1785.4 pg WHO-TEQ Nm À3 . For dl-PCBs, the most abundant congener was CB-118, and the most dominant contributor to total WHO-TEQ of dl-PCBs was CB-126. With regard to PCDD/Fs, four congeners comprised of OCDD, 1234678-HpCDD, 1234678-HpCDF and OCDF were the predominant species in stack gases. Further investigation on the emission of dioxins from coking industry is still in process.

Removal of polychlorinated biphenyls by desulfurization and emissions of polychlorinated biphenyls from sintering plants

“…These properties make it possible for PCBs to undergo long-range transport, and they pose global risks to human health and the environment (Liu et al 2009a;Meijer et al 2003;Ren et al 2007). The manufacture and use of commercial products containing PCBs were banned in most countries in 1973.…”

“…Consequently, unintentional emissions of PCBs during industrial thermal processes have been becoming, and will continue to become, more important sources of PCBs in the environment. These thermal emission sources of PCBs include iron sintering, secondary nonferrousmetal smelting, iron casting, coking, and converter steelmaking; iron-ore sintering is an important industrial source of PCBs (Ba et al 2010;Ba et al 2009;Li et al 2014;Liu et al 2009a;Liu et al 2009b;Luthardt et al 2002;Lv et al 2011;Tian et al 2012). The environmental presence and behaviors of PCBs have been studied for more than 30 years (Li et al 2010).…”

Polychlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorocyclohexanes in sediments and fish species from the Napoleon Gulf of Lake Victoria, Uganda

“…e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s c i t o t e n v (Liu et al, 2009). However, concerns about their persistent and toxic nature led to their ban throughout the world in the late 1970s .…”

Effects of energy conservation in major energy-intensive industrial sectors on emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in China

“…The emission factor of 3 mg I-TEQ ton À 1 for air has been applied to coke facilities where no dust removal device is in use (UNEP, 2005). Recently, Liu et al (2009) identified that there was a large variance of PCDD/F emissions among three coke plants due to the differences of the coking techniques and end-of-pipe control devices used. The PCDD/Fs released in mixed emitted gases from charging of coal and the pushing of coke at a coke plant with an annual production capacity of 200 thousand tons was 1697.7 pg WHO-TEQ Nm À 3 .…”