Ambient ozone pollution at a coal chemical industry city in the border of Loess Plateau and Mu Us Desert: characteristics, sensitivity analysis and control strategies

Abstract

In this study, ambient ozone (O3) pollution characteristics and sensitivity analysis were carried out in Yulin, a city in the central area of the Loess Plateau during 2017 to 2019 summer. O3 concentrations increased for 2017 to 2019. Correlation and statistics analysis indicated high temperature (T > 25 °C, low relative humidity (RH < 60%), and low wind speed (WS < 3 m/s) were favorable for O3 formation and accumulation, and the O3 pollution days (MDA8 O3 > 160 µg/m3) were predominantly observed when the wind was traveling from the easterly and southerly. O3 concentration in urban area of Yulin was higher than that in background. The pollution air masses from Fenwei Plain increase the level and duration of O3 pollution. In order to clarify the formation mechanism and source of O3, online measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were conducted from 7 July to 10 August in 2019. The average of VOCs concentration was 26 ± 12 ppbv, and large amounts of alkenes followed by aromatics, characteristic pollutants of the coal chemical industry, were detected in the ambient air. To further measure the sensitivity, the observation-based model (OBM) simulation was conducted. Empirical Kinetic Modeling Approach (EKMA) plot and relative incremental reactivity (RIR) value indicated Yulin located on VOCs-limited regime. That implied a slight decrease of NOx may increase O3 concentration. When the emission reduction ratio of anthropogenic VOCs/NOx higher than 1:1, the O3 will decrease. O3 control strategies analysis shows that the O3 targets of 5% and 10% O3 concentration reductions are achievable through precursor control, but more effort is needed to reach the 30% and 40% reduction control targets.