Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime

Abstract We deployed a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SPAMS) to investigate the size distribution and mixing state of ambient black carbon (BC) particles in Shanghai during the winter of 2017. The mixing state of the particles changed drastically...

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Main Authors: Kangning Li, XiaoFei Wang, Xiaohui Lu, Hong Chen, Xin Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2021-05-01
Series:Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200655
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author Kangning Li
XiaoFei Wang
Xiaohui Lu
Hong Chen
Xin Yang
author_facet Kangning Li
XiaoFei Wang
Xiaohui Lu
Hong Chen
Xin Yang
author_sort Kangning Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We deployed a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SPAMS) to investigate the size distribution and mixing state of ambient black carbon (BC) particles in Shanghai during the winter of 2017. The mixing state of the particles changed drastically under different meteorological conditions, and higher concentrations often occurred during haze episodes. The BC particles existed in two size modes: the condensation mode, which mainly consisted of fresh traffic-emitted particles, and the droplet mode, which encompassed heavily aged traffic-emitted particles, biomass burning particles and heavy-duty diesel engine emission particles. Whereas the heavily aged traffic-emitted particles exhibited relatively small BC cores (60–80 nm in diameter) surrounded by a thick coating (100–160 nm), the biomass burning particles displayed slightly larger cores (80–130 nm) covered by an even thicker layer (160–300 nm). However, we observed a large number of particles with large cores (150–200 nm) but a relatively thin coating (40–80 nm) on clean days. Trajectory analyses of the air masses showed that they usually originated in local areas or on the North China Plain during haze episodes but mostly migrated from the East China Sea during clean episodes. Interestingly, the BC particles in the clean air masses contained V more frequently and generated intense mass spectrum signals for Ca+, suggesting that these particles probably arose from heavy machinery emissions near ports. Our real-time single particle data indicates that the sources of BC aerosol can be easily identified by measuring the size distribution and mixing state of the particles.
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series Aerosol and Air Quality Research
spelling doaj-art-8d029e9ee8f1462cb3469f55f292f57c2025-02-09T12:21:21ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092021-05-0121911710.4209/aaqr.200655Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during WintertimeKangning Li0XiaoFei Wang1Xiaohui Lu2Hong Chen3Xin Yang4Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan UniversityShanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan UniversityShanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan UniversityShanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan UniversityShanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan UniversityAbstract We deployed a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SPAMS) to investigate the size distribution and mixing state of ambient black carbon (BC) particles in Shanghai during the winter of 2017. The mixing state of the particles changed drastically under different meteorological conditions, and higher concentrations often occurred during haze episodes. The BC particles existed in two size modes: the condensation mode, which mainly consisted of fresh traffic-emitted particles, and the droplet mode, which encompassed heavily aged traffic-emitted particles, biomass burning particles and heavy-duty diesel engine emission particles. Whereas the heavily aged traffic-emitted particles exhibited relatively small BC cores (60–80 nm in diameter) surrounded by a thick coating (100–160 nm), the biomass burning particles displayed slightly larger cores (80–130 nm) covered by an even thicker layer (160–300 nm). However, we observed a large number of particles with large cores (150–200 nm) but a relatively thin coating (40–80 nm) on clean days. Trajectory analyses of the air masses showed that they usually originated in local areas or on the North China Plain during haze episodes but mostly migrated from the East China Sea during clean episodes. Interestingly, the BC particles in the clean air masses contained V more frequently and generated intense mass spectrum signals for Ca+, suggesting that these particles probably arose from heavy machinery emissions near ports. Our real-time single particle data indicates that the sources of BC aerosol can be easily identified by measuring the size distribution and mixing state of the particles.https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200655Black carbonSize distributionsMixing stateSource identification
spellingShingle Kangning Li
XiaoFei Wang
Xiaohui Lu
Hong Chen
Xin Yang
Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Black carbon
Size distributions
Mixing state
Source identification
title Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
title_full Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
title_fullStr Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
title_short Effect of Pollution Level on Size Distributions and Mixing State of Ambient Black Carbon Particles in an Urban Area during Wintertime
title_sort effect of pollution level on size distributions and mixing state of ambient black carbon particles in an urban area during wintertime
topic Black carbon
Size distributions
Mixing state
Source identification
url https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200655
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