Aerosol and Air Quality Research 

About: Aerosol and Air Quality Research is an academic journal published by Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Aerosol & Air quality index. It has an ISSN identifier of 1680-8584. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 2787 publications have been published receiving 56585 citations. The journal is also known as: AAQR.

A Review of CO2 Capture by Absorption and Adsorption

Abstract: Global warming resulting from the emission of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, has become a widespread concern in the recent years. Though various CO2 capture technologies have been proposed, chemical absorption and adsorption are currently believed to be the most suitable ones for post-combustion power plants. The operation of the chemical absorption process is reviewed in this work, together with the use of absorbents, such as the ionic liquid, alkanolamines and their blended aqueous solutions. The major concerns for this technology, including CO2 capture efficiency, absorption rate, energy required in regeneration, and volume of absorber, are addressed. For adsorption, in addition to physical adsorbents, various mesoporous solid adsorbents impregnated with polyamines and grafted with aminosilanes are reviewed in this work. The major concerns for selection of adsorbent, including cost, adsorption rate, CO2 adsorption capacity, and thermal stability, are compared and discussed. More effective and less energy-consuming regeneration techniques for CO2-loaded adsorbents are also proposed. Future works for both absorption and adsorption are suggested.

Emission of Air Pollutants from Crop Residue Burning in India

Abstract: Agricultural crop residue burning contribute towards the emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, CH4), air pollutants (CO, NH3, NOx, SO2, NMHC, volatile organic compounds), particulates matter and smoke thereby posing threat to human health. In the present study a state-wise inventory of crop residue burnt in India and the air pollutants emitted was prepared using the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) national inventory preparation guidelines for the year 2008–09. Total amount of residue generated in 2008–09 was 620 Mt out of which ~15.9% residue was burnt on farm. Rice straw contributed 40% of the total residue burnt followed by wheat straw (22%) and sugarcane trash (20%). Burning of crop residues emitted 8.57 Mt of CO, 141.15 Mt of CO2, 0.037 Mt of SOx, 0.23 Mt of NOx, 0.12 Mt of NH3 and 1.46 Mt NMVOC, 0.65 Mt of NMHC, 1.21 Mt of particulate matter for the year 2008–09. The variability of 21.46% in annual emission of air pollutants was observed from 1995 to 2009.

Summary of Organic and Elemental Carbon/Black Carbon Analysis Methods and Intercomparisons

Abstract: Many different thermal, optical, and thermal/optical carbon analysis methods for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) or black carbon (BC) have been applied throughout the world to evaluate visibility and the Earth’s radiation balance. Dozens of intermethod and interlaboratory comparison studies have been conducted. Several of these studies are catalogued and summarized here. BC or EC concentrations are found to differ by up to a factor of 7 among different methods; factor of 2 differences are common. Differences between methods are not consistent among comparison studies, with some methods showing higher BC for one set of samples and lower BC for other sets relative to a common benchmark. The absorption efficiency relating light absorption (babs) to EC that is derived from collocated optical and chemical measurements can vary by a factor of 10, depending on the collocated babs and EC measurement methods. Future intermethod and interlaboratory comparisons must include components that seek to understand the causes of these differences.

Characterization and Source Apportionment of PM2.5 in an Urban Environment in Beijing

Abstract: Daily 24-hour PM2.5 samples were collected continuously from January 1 to December 31, 2010. Elemental concentrations from Al to Pb were obtained using particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method. This was the first full year continuous daily PM2.5 elemental composition dataset in Beijing. Source apportionment analysis was conducted on this dataset using the positive matrix factorization method. Seven sources and their contributions to the total PM2.5 mass were identified and quantified. These include secondary sulphur– 13.8 μg/m 3 , 26.5%; vehicle exhaust– 8.9 μg/m 3 , 17.1%; fossil fuel combustion– 8.3 μg/m 3 , 16%; road dust– 6.6 μg/m 3 , 12.7%; biomass burning– 5.8 μg/m 3 , 11.2%; soil dust– 5.4 μg/m 3 , 10.4%; and metal processing– 3.1 μg/m 3 , 6.0%. Fugitive dusts (including soil dust and road dust) showed the highest contribution of 20.7 μg/m 3 in the spring, doubling those in other seasons. On the contrary, contributions of the combustion source types (including biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion) were significantly higher in the fall (14.2 μg/m 3 ) and in the winter (24.5 μg/m 3 ) compared to those in the spring and summer (9.6 and 8.0 μg/m 3 , respectively). Secondary sulphur contributed the most in the summer while vehicle exhaust and metal processing sources did not show any clear seasonal pattern. The different seasonal highs and lows from different sources compensated each other. This explains the very small seasonal variations (< 20%) in the total PM2.5.

CO2 Capture by Accelerated Carbonation of Alkaline Wastes: A Review on Its Principles and Applications

Abstract: CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a promising technology wherein CO2 is captured and stored in solid form for further utilization instead of being released into the atmosphere in high concentrations. Under this framework, a new process called accelerated carbonation has been widely researched and developed. In this process, alkaline materials are reacted with high-purity CO2 in the presence of moisture to accelerate the reaction to a timescale of a few minutes or hours. The feedstock for accelerated carbonation includes natural silicate-minerals (e.g., wollastonite, serpentine, and olivine) and industrial residues (e.g., steelmaking slag, municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash, and air pollution control (APC) residues). This research article focuses on carbonation technologies that use industrial alkaline wastes, such as steelmaking slags and metalworking wastewater. The carbonation of alkaline solid waste has been shown to be an effective way to capture CO2 and to eliminate the contents of Ca(OH)2 in solid residues, thus improving the durability of concrete blended with the carbonated residues. However, the operating conditions must be further studied for both the economic viability of the technology and the optimal conditions for CO2 reaction.