Soot particles from shipping: Analysing emission factors
(2015) MVEM12 20151Studies in Environmental Science
- Abstract
- Emissions of air pollutants from shipping in Europe result in about 50 000 premature deaths every year. Soot particles, also called black carbon, are particularly hazardous to human health when inhaled. The adverse health effects are especially a danger in coastal areas, but the particles can travel further away with the wind. These soot particles also have an effect on the climate. Fresh soot particles are known to be ineffective cloud condensation nuclei for cloud droplet formation, whereas aged soot particles with condensed inorganic sulphuric acid on the particle surface may act as effective cloud condensation nuclei. This leads to changing properties of clouds, thereby changing the cloud reflection of incoming solar shortwave... (More)
- Emissions of air pollutants from shipping in Europe result in about 50 000 premature deaths every year. Soot particles, also called black carbon, are particularly hazardous to human health when inhaled. The adverse health effects are especially a danger in coastal areas, but the particles can travel further away with the wind. These soot particles also have an effect on the climate. Fresh soot particles are known to be ineffective cloud condensation nuclei for cloud droplet formation, whereas aged soot particles with condensed inorganic sulphuric acid on the particle surface may act as effective cloud condensation nuclei. This leads to changing properties of clouds, thereby changing the cloud reflection of incoming solar shortwave radiation. The particles can also deposit on surfaces of snow and ice, where they have a warming effect. The snow and ice melts, causing a reduced amount of reflected sunlight.
The aim of this study was to calculate the emissions of soot particles from ships in Gothenburg. The amount of soot emissions from ships was compared to the amount of fuel used. This was done by calculating the emission factor for soot and its absorption coefficient. Calculations of the emission factors in ship plumes were made on five selected days. The initial data was gathered over a period of a month outside Gothenburg harbor in the fall of 2014. The field station containing the measurement instruments was located 500 meters downwind from the shipping lane. Plumes were just over a minute old when they reached the field station.
A sliding percentile-based method was used in order to separate plumes from background concentrations of CO2 and soot particles. Subsequently, the emission factors were calculated. The total number of analysed ship plumes was 228. Some of which are the same ships arriving and leaving the harbor. When plumes were present, the amount of CO2 rose above the background levels with a minimum of 2 ppm. Plumes could increase with as much as 35 ppm.
The emission factor for black carbon, or soot, was estimated at 0.57 ( ± 1.40) grams of black carbon per kilogram of fuel. This is an average number for the shipping fleet connected to Gothenburg, which should be able to be applied to the entire shipping fleet travelling in the SECA area in Europe. Additionally, it is not entirely certain how lower fuel sulphur content affect the emissions of black carbon. There are no identical studies done so far which makes it difficult to reach a conclusion whether the emissions of black carbon particles have decreased or not. When looking at individual ships, no clear difference could be observed. Oil tankers and cargo ro-ro's usually emits the most black carbon but also include vessels with lower emissions. All passenger ships have different emission factors.
Not many studies have been done on the subject. It is therefore important to further study this in order to fully understand the effects on soot particles when reducing sulphur. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- Sotpartiklar från båtar leder till förtida dödsfall,
Men hur stort är egentligen utsläppet?
Emissioner av partiklar från båtar leder till 50 000 förtida dödsfall per år i Europa. Vid inandning leder det även till en ökad risk för luftvägssjukdomar, hjärt- kärlsjukdomar, samt allergier. Skeppsemissioner påverkar även klimat och miljö på olika vis, både positiva och negativa. Den största boven i dessa emissioner är de olika partiklarna som släpps ut, i synnerhet sotpartiklar. Sotpartiklarna bildas främst på grund av svavel i bränslet. I denna studie undersöks hur mycket sotpartiklar som i dagsläget släpps ut av skepp.
I Sveriges vatten finns det regler om hur mycket svavel som skeppsbränsle får innehålla. År 2010 var det 1 % svavel... (More) - Sotpartiklar från båtar leder till förtida dödsfall,
Men hur stort är egentligen utsläppet?
Emissioner av partiklar från båtar leder till 50 000 förtida dödsfall per år i Europa. Vid inandning leder det även till en ökad risk för luftvägssjukdomar, hjärt- kärlsjukdomar, samt allergier. Skeppsemissioner påverkar även klimat och miljö på olika vis, både positiva och negativa. Den största boven i dessa emissioner är de olika partiklarna som släpps ut, i synnerhet sotpartiklar. Sotpartiklarna bildas främst på grund av svavel i bränslet. I denna studie undersöks hur mycket sotpartiklar som i dagsläget släpps ut av skepp.
I Sveriges vatten finns det regler om hur mycket svavel som skeppsbränsle får innehålla. År 2010 var det 1 % svavel som gällde, och år 2015 sänktes det till 0,1 %. Denna studie analyserar mätningar av emitterade sotpartiklar, och tittar även på skillnader i utsläpp mellan olika typer av skepp.
Mätdata erhölls från Göteborgs hamn hösten år 2014 via en mät-kampanj. Mät-kampanjen utfördes av flera forskningsinstitutioner, bland annat Lunds universitet. Mätdata användes för att räkna ut så kallade emissionsfaktorer. Dessa faktorer visar på hur mycket sotpartiklar som släpps ut per kilogram skeppsbränsle. Ett medelvärde räknades ut för hela skeppsflottan som färdas via Göteborg. Medelvärdet bör kunna appliceras på alla skepp som färdas inom det svavelreglerade området.
Den mängd sotpartiklar som släpps ut per kilogram bränsle räknades ut till 0,57 gram (med en osäkerhet på ± 1,40 gram). Detta resultat liknar de få resultat från tidigare studier, men det är svårt att jämföra på grund av olika beräkningsmetoder och instrument. På grund av denna svårighet går det inte att konstatera huruvida utsläpp av sotpartiklar har minskat eller ökat. Därför krävs det att en liknande studie utförs för att få ett jämförbart värde. En framtida studie bör helst vara så lik denna som möjligt.
Fördelningen av utsläpp mellan skepp är också i behov av vidare studier. Det var 45 individuella båtar som identifierades, främst oljeskepp, lastskepp, och passerarskepp. Utsläppen mellan alla båtarna varierade. De flesta oljeskepp och lastskepp hade låga utsläpp av sotpartiklar, men de inkluderade också ett fåtal med väldigt höga utsläpp. Alla passagerarskeppen hade väldigt olika utsläpp.
Trots att resultatet i denna studie visar hur mycket sotpartiklar som släpps ut, så finns det inget konkret att jämföra med. Det går därför inte att nå en slutsats huruvida sotpartiklar har minskat eller ökat. Det som behövs är vidare studier som använder sig av samma metoder och instrument som i denna.
Handledare: Adam Kristensson
Examensarbete 30 hp i Miljövetenskap 2015
Centrum för miljö- och klimatforskning, Lunds universitet (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/7370032
- author
- Mauritzson, Nicklas LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MVEM12 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Ship emission, emission factor, soot, black carbon, measurement, SECA, Gothenburg, Sweden
- language
- English
- id
- 7370032
- date added to LUP
- 2015-06-18 15:47:13
- date last changed
- 2015-06-18 15:47:13
@misc{7370032,
abstract = {{Emissions of air pollutants from shipping in Europe result in about 50 000 premature deaths every year. Soot particles, also called black carbon, are particularly hazardous to human health when inhaled. The adverse health effects are especially a danger in coastal areas, but the particles can travel further away with the wind. These soot particles also have an effect on the climate. Fresh soot particles are known to be ineffective cloud condensation nuclei for cloud droplet formation, whereas aged soot particles with condensed inorganic sulphuric acid on the particle surface may act as effective cloud condensation nuclei. This leads to changing properties of clouds, thereby changing the cloud reflection of incoming solar shortwave radiation. The particles can also deposit on surfaces of snow and ice, where they have a warming effect. The snow and ice melts, causing a reduced amount of reflected sunlight.
The aim of this study was to calculate the emissions of soot particles from ships in Gothenburg. The amount of soot emissions from ships was compared to the amount of fuel used. This was done by calculating the emission factor for soot and its absorption coefficient. Calculations of the emission factors in ship plumes were made on five selected days. The initial data was gathered over a period of a month outside Gothenburg harbor in the fall of 2014. The field station containing the measurement instruments was located 500 meters downwind from the shipping lane. Plumes were just over a minute old when they reached the field station.
A sliding percentile-based method was used in order to separate plumes from background concentrations of CO2 and soot particles. Subsequently, the emission factors were calculated. The total number of analysed ship plumes was 228. Some of which are the same ships arriving and leaving the harbor. When plumes were present, the amount of CO2 rose above the background levels with a minimum of 2 ppm. Plumes could increase with as much as 35 ppm.
The emission factor for black carbon, or soot, was estimated at 0.57 ( ± 1.40) grams of black carbon per kilogram of fuel. This is an average number for the shipping fleet connected to Gothenburg, which should be able to be applied to the entire shipping fleet travelling in the SECA area in Europe. Additionally, it is not entirely certain how lower fuel sulphur content affect the emissions of black carbon. There are no identical studies done so far which makes it difficult to reach a conclusion whether the emissions of black carbon particles have decreased or not. When looking at individual ships, no clear difference could be observed. Oil tankers and cargo ro-ro's usually emits the most black carbon but also include vessels with lower emissions. All passenger ships have different emission factors.
Not many studies have been done on the subject. It is therefore important to further study this in order to fully understand the effects on soot particles when reducing sulphur.}},
author = {{Mauritzson, Nicklas}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Soot particles from shipping: Analysing emission factors}},
year = {{2015}},
}