Analysis of motor vehicle emissions in a Houston tunnel during the Texas Air Quality Study 2000

McGaughey, Gary; Desai, Nimish R.; Allen, David T.; Seila, Robert L.; Lonneman, William A.; Fraser, Matthew P.; Harley, Robert A.; Pollack, Alison K.; Ivy, Jason M.; Price, James H.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.03.006

Cited by 123 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The short-lived alkenes had presumably undergone mixing and oxidative removal during transport resulting in weaker correlations in spring, summer, and fall. Based on the winter measurements, the ethene and propene correlation slopes with ethyne (1.2 and 0.21, respectively) were similar to light duty gasoline and vehicle exhaust emission ratios (0.9-1.7 and 0.1-0.5, respectively) (Conner et al, 1995;Watson et al, 2001;Choi and Ehrman, 2004;McGaughey et al, 2004) suggesting that vehicular emissions were the dominant source of these alkenes. Propene and 1-butene were well correlated throughout the majority of the study period reflecting a common source (Fig.…”

Section: Comparison With Tracers and Source Signaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-year (2004–2008) record of nonmethane hydrocarbons and halocarbons in New England: seasonal variations and regional sources

et al. 2010

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Abstract. Multi-year time series records of C 2 -C 6 alkanes, C 2 -C 4 alkenes, ethyne, isoprene, C 6 -C 8 aromatics, trichloroethene (C 2 HCl 3 ), and tetrachloroethene (C 2 Cl 4 ) from canister samples collected during January 2004-February 2008 at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) AIRMAP Observatory at Thompson Farm (TF) in Durham, NH are presented. The objectives of this work are to identify the sources of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and halocarbons observed at TF, characterize the seasonal and interannual variability in ambient mixing ratios and sources, and estimate regional emission rates of NMHCs. Analysis of correlations and comparisons with emission ratios indicated that a ubiquitous and persistent mix of emissions from several anthropogenic sources is observed throughout the entire year. The highest C 2 -C 8 anthropogenic NMHC mixing ratios were observed in mid to late winter. Following the springtime minimums, the C 3 -C 6 alkanes, C 7 -C 8 aromatics, and C 2 HCl 3 increased in early to mid summer, presumably reflecting enhanced evaporative emissions. Mixing ratios of C 2 Cl 4 and C 2 HCl 3 decreased by 0.7±0.2 and 0.3±0.05 pptv/year, respectively, which is indicative of reduced usage and emissions of these halogenated solvents. Emission rates of C 3 -C 8 NMHCs were estimated to be 10 9 to 10 10 molecules cm −2 s −1 in winter 2006. The emission rates extrapolated to the state of New Hampshire and New England were ∼2-60 Mg/day and ∼12-430 Mg/day, respectively. Emission rates of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, Correspondence to: R. S. Russo (rrusso@gust.sr.unh.edu) xylenes, and ethyne in the 2002 and 2005 EPA National Emissions Inventories were within ±50% of the TF emission rates.

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Section: Comparison With Tracers and Source Signaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-year (2004–2008) record of nonmethane hydrocarbons and halocarbons in New England: seasonal variations and regional sources

et al. 2010

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“…The first two measurements were obtained in tunnel studies. However, tunnel measurements may be biased due to the restrictions for specific vehicles, e.g., heavy-duty vehicles (Kirchstetter et al, 1996, McGaughey et al, 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radical precursors and related species from traffic as observed and modeled at an urban highway junction

Rappenglück

Lubertino

Alvarez

et al. 2013

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Nitrous acid (HONO) and formaldehyde (HCHO) are important precursors for radicals and are believed to favor ozone formation significantly. Traffic emission data for both compounds are scarce and mostly outdated. A better knowledge of today's HCHO and HONO emissions related to traffic is needed to refine air quality models. Here the authors report results from continuous ambient air measurements taken at a highway junction in Houston, Texas, from July 15 to October 15, 2009. The observational data were compared with emission estimates from currently available mobile emission models (MOBILE6; MOVES [MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator]). Observations indicated a molar carbon monoxide (CO) versus nitrogen oxides (NO x ) ratio of 6.01 AE 0.15 (r 2 ¼ 0.91), which is in agreement with other field studies. Both MOBILE6 and MOVES overestimate this emission ratio by 92% and 24%, respectively. For HCHO/CO, an overall slope of 3.14 AE 0.14 g HCHO/kg CO was observed. Whereas MOBILE6 largely underestimates this ratio by 77%, MOVES calculates somewhat higher HCHO/CO ratios (1.87) than MOBILE6, but is still significantly lower than the observed ratio. MOVES shows high HCHO/CO ratios during the early morning hours due to heavyduty diesel off-network emissions. The differences of the modeled CO/NO x and HCHO/CO ratios are largely due to higher NO x and HCHO emissions in MOVES (30% and 57%, respectively, increased from MOBILE6 for 2009), as CO emissions were about the same in both models. The observed HONO/NO x emission ratio is around 0.017 AE 0.0009 kg HONO/kg NO x which is twice as high as in MOVES. The observed NO 2 /NO x emission ratio is around 0.16 AE 0.01 kg NO 2 /kg NO x , which is a bit more than 50% higher than in MOVES. MOVES overestimates the CO/CO 2 emission ratio by a factor of 3 compared with the observations, which is 0.0033 AE 0.0002 kg CO/kg CO 2 . This as well as CO/NO x overestimation is coming from light-duty gasoline vehicles.Implications: Nitrous acid (HONO) and formaldehyde (HCHO) are important precursors for radicals that ultimately contribute to ozone formation. There still exist uncertainties in emission sources of HONO and HCHO and thus regional air quality modeling still tend to underestimate concentrations of free radicals in the atmosphere. This paper demonstrates that the latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) traffic emission model MOVES still shows significant deviations from observed emission ratios, in particular underestimation of HCHO/CO and HONO/NO x ratios. Improving the performance of MOVES may improve regional air quality modeling.

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“…Measurements of particle emissions from motor vehicles have been accomplished via dynamometer source testing (Chase et al 2000;Kwon et al 2003;Sakurai et al 2003aSakurai et al , 2003bSchauer et al 1999Schauer et al , 2002Suess and Prather 2002), roadway tunnel sampling (Allen et al 2001;Fraser et al 1998;Laschober et al 2004;McGaughey et al 2004), on-road chase experiments (Shah et al 2004;Vogt et al 2003), and roadside measurements Sturm et al 2003;Zhu et al 2002aZhu et al , 2002bZhu et al , 2004. In general, particles directly emitted from motor vehicles are in the size range from 20 to 130 nm in aerodynamic diameter for diesel engines and from 20 to 60 nm for gasoline engines (Ristovski et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and Chemical Characteristics and Volatility of PM in the Proximity of a Light-Duty Vehicle Freeway

Kühn¹,

Biswas

Fine

et al. 2005

Aerosol Science and Technology

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Analysis of motor vehicle emissions in a Houston tunnel during the Texas Air Quality Study 2000

Cited by 123 publications

References 10 publications

Multi-year (2004–2008) record of nonmethane hydrocarbons and halocarbons in New England: seasonal variations and regional sources

Multi-year (2004–2008) record of nonmethane hydrocarbons and halocarbons in New England: seasonal variations and regional sources

Radical precursors and related species from traffic as observed and modeled at an urban highway junction

Physical and Chemical Characteristics and Volatility of PM in the Proximity of a Light-Duty Vehicle Freeway

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