Calculation Methods of Emission Factors and Emissions of Fugitive Particulate Matter in South Korean Construction Sites

Abstract

Recently, efforts to effectively reduce particulate matter by identifying its sources and trends have become necessary due to the sustained damage it has caused in East Asia. In the case of South Korea, damage due to fugitive dust generated at construction sites in densely populated downtown areas is significant, and particulate matter in such fugitive dust directly influences the health of nearby residents and construction workers. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to develop a method for calculating emission factors for PM10 and PM2.5 emission amounts in the fugitive dust generated in construction sites and to derive emission amount trends for major variables to predict the amounts of generated particulate matter. To this end, South Korean emission factors for PM10 and PM2.5 for different construction equipment and activities that generate fugitive dust were derived and a method for calculating the amount of particulate matter using the derived emission factors was proposed. In addition, the calculated total emissions using these factors were compared to those calculated using construction site fugitive dust equations developed for the United States, Europe, and South Korea, and the trend analysis of total emissions according to the major emission factor variables was conducted.

Technology for Predicting Particulate Matter Emissions at Construction Sites in South Korea

“…This gap is basically caused by the difference in the variables used in fugitive emission factor equations; in particular, the silt content and the moisture content highly affect fugitive emissions. Previously, it was found that the PM emissions increase as the silt content increases and that the PM emissions decrease as the moisture content increases [17]. According to the NIER research (NIER, 2008) for Equation (1) development, the moisture content used for fugitive emission factor calculation was 0.7% and silt content was 14.1%.…”

“…Figure 2 shows the major PM emission sources selected in this study. These sources were selected on the basis of the construction-related air pollutant emission sources defined by the US EPA and ME of South Korea [17,20,[25][26][27].…”

“…According to the statistical data of the Ministry of Environment (ME) of South Korea, fugitive emissions account for approximately 50% of PM10 and smaller PM emissions in South Korea. Furthermore, the fugitive emissions caused by construction work are the largest at 33% [16,17].…”

Modeling Traffic Flow, Energy Use, and Emissions Using Google Maps and Google Street View: The Case of EDSA, Philippines

“…In the process of estimating emissions, transport activity data is multiplied with emission factors [58,59]. In the context of the transport sector, the greenhouse gas emissions arise from the combustion and evaporation of fuels from diverse forms of transport activities [60].…”

Development of IoT-Based Particulate Matter Monitoring System for Construction Sites

“…With increasing industrialization and urbanization, air pollution has emerged as a global issue, and the dust generated from construction processes is a major social problem that must be solved [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This dust, generated on construction sites, poses serious risks to the health of field workers and residents living near construction sites [ 4 ].…”