Origins and trends in ethane and propane in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 2012

Derwent, R.G.; Field, Robert A.; Dumitrean, P.; Murrells, Timothy P.; Telling, S.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.02.030

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This conclusion is in agreement with findings from other recent studies that have shown that O&NG NMHC emissions are constituting an increasing fraction of the urban and rural VOC mix at sites downwind of O&NG basins (Schade & Roest, 2015;Vinciguerra et al, 2015) in the U.S. Similar observations were reported for the United Kingdom: While most C2-C8 hydrocarbons steadily declined from 1993 to 2012, ethane and propane, which are mostly associated to NG emissions, have remained near their 1993 values (Derwent et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…This finding is in agreement with other previous work that has shown declining light NMHCs in U.S. urban atmospheres (Bishop & Stedman, 2008;Warneke et al, 2012). This general behavior is also in accord with observations outside of the United States, mainly in Europe, where urban NMHCs have been steadily declining since~1990 (Derwent et al, 2017;Monks et al, 2009;Von Schneidemesser et al, 2010). As mentioned earlier, a recent study of C2-C8 hydrocarbons in the United Kingdom using 1993 to 2012 data found declining concentrations of most ≥C4 VOC, whereas ethane and propane concentrations have remained near 1993 values (Derwent et al, 2017).…”

Section: Changes In Isomer Absolute Mole Fractionssupporting

confidence: 93%

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Changes in Atmospheric Butanes and Pentanes and Their Isomeric Ratios in the Continental United States

Rossabi

Helmig

2018

JGR Atmospheres

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Nonmethane hydrocarbons have been used as tracers in research on emissions and atmospheric oxidation chemistry. This research investigates source region mixing ratio trends of the nonmethane hydrocarbons i‐butane, n‐butane, i‐pentane, and n‐pentane, and the (i/n) isomeric ratios of these compounds between 2001 and 2015. Data collected at Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations, mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in ozone nonattainment areas, and data collected at Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network sites within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration network, and analyzed at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado‐Boulder, were examined. Among all considered species, linear regression analyses on concentration time series had negative slopes at 81% of sites, indicating predominantly declining butane and pentane atmospheric concentrations. Mostly negative slopes (78% of sites) were found for the (i/n) butane and pentane isomeric ratios, including all six and seven statistically significant (i/n) butane and pentane trends, respectively. Over the ~15 year investigation period and averaged over all sites, total relative changes were ~30 and 45% for the (i/n) ratios of butanes and pentanes, respectively, with a relative increase in the prominence of the n‐isomers. Most likely causes include changing isomeric ratios in gasoline sector emissions, and increasing influence of oil and natural gas industry emissions. Changes in concentrations and isomeric ratios depend on proximity of contributing emission sources to measurement sites.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Changes In Isomer Absolute Mole Fractionssupporting

confidence: 93%

Changes in Atmospheric Butanes and Pentanes and Their Isomeric Ratios in the Continental United States

Rossabi

Helmig

2018

JGR Atmospheres

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“… a Rate constant for propane . Propane is selected as the model VOC due to its relative importance in reactions in the urban atmosphere. , b Rate constant for CH 3 O 2 + NO c Rate constant for CH 3 O 2 + HO 2 …”

Section: Methods and Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… a Rate constant for propane . Propane is selected as the model VOC due to its relative importance in reactions in the urban atmosphere. , …”

Section: Methods and Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights for Tracking Global and Local Trends in Exposure to Air Pollutants

Wolf

Esty

Kim

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

104

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Over six million people die prematurely each year from exposure to air pollution. Current air quality metrics insufficiently monitor exposure to air pollutants. This gap hinders the ability of decisionmakers to address the public health impacts of air pollution. To spur new emissions control policies and ensure implemented solutions realize meaningful gains in environmental health, we develop a framework of public-health-focused air quality indicators that quantifies over 200 countries’ trends in exposure to particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. We couple population density to ground-level pollutant concentrations to derive population-weighted exposure metrics that quantify the pollutant levels experienced by the average resident in each country. Our analyses demonstrate that most residents in 171 countries experience pollutant levels exceeding international health guidelines. In addition, we find a negative correlation between temporal trends in ozone and nitrogen oxide concentrations, whichwhen qualitatively interpreted with a simple atmospheric chemistry box modelcan help describe the apparent tradeoff between the mitigation of these two pollutants on local scales. These novel indicators and their applications enable regulators to identify their most critical pollutant exposure trends and allow countries to track the performance of their emission control policies over time.

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“…These emissions ratios are significantly higher than those observed by Gilman et al (2013) (1.09) and Swarthout et al (2013) (1.00) at BAO downwind of onshore natural gas sources. Derwent et al (2017) reported an ethane to propane ratio of 2.4 from natural gas leakage at Marylebone Road, London, suggesting that the high ratios observed in this work could be as a result of fugitive emissions of raw natural gas.…”

Section: Correlations With Tracer Compoundsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Speciation of VOC emissions related to offshore North Sea oil and gas production

Wilde¹,

Dominutti²,

Andrews³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. The North Sea is Europe's key oil and gas (O&G) basin with the output currently meeting 3–4 % of global oil supply. Despite this, there are few observational constraints on the nature of atmospheric emissions from this region, with most information derived from bottom-up inventory estimates. This study reports on airborne measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from O&G producing regions in the North Sea. VOC source emission signatures for the primary extraction products from offshore fields (oil, gas, condensate, mixed) were determined in four geographic regions. Measured iso-pentane to n-pentane (iC5 / nC5) ratios were 0.89–1.24 for all regions, used as a confirmatory indicator of O&G activities. Light alkanes (ethane, propane, butane, pentane) were the dominant species emitted in all four regions, however total OH reactivity was dominated by unsaturated species, such as 1,3-butadiene, despite their relatively low abundance. Benzene to toluene ratios indicated the influence of possible terrestrial combustion sources of emissions in the southern, gas-producing region of the North Sea, seen only during south or south-westerly wind episodes. However, all other regions showed a characteristic signature of O&G operations. Correlations between ethane (C2H6) and methane (CH4), confirmed O&G production to be the primary CH4 source. The enhancement ratio (ΔC2H6 / ΔCH4) ranged between 0.03–0.18, indicating a spatial dependence on emissions with both wet and dry CH4 emission sources. The excess mole fraction demonstrated that deepwater oil extraction resulted in a greater proportion of emissions of higher carbon number alkanes relative to CH4, whereas gas extraction, typically from shallow waters, resulted in a less complex mix of emissions dominated by CH4. The VOC source profiles measured were similar to those in the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) for oil production, with consistency between the molar ratios of light alkanes to propane. The largest discrepancies between observations and the inventory were for mono-aromatic compounds, highlighting that these species are not currently fully captured in the inventory. These results demonstrate the applicability of VOC measurements to distinguish unique sources within the O&G sector and give an overview of VOC speciation over the North Sea.

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Origins and trends in ethane and propane in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 2012

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Changes in Atmospheric Butanes and Pentanes and Their Isomeric Ratios in the Continental United States

Changes in Atmospheric Butanes and Pentanes and Their Isomeric Ratios in the Continental United States

New Insights for Tracking Global and Local Trends in Exposure to Air Pollutants

Speciation of VOC emissions related to offshore North Sea oil and gas production

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