Identification

Title

Characterization of NOx, SO₂, ethene, and propene from industrial emission sources in Houston, Texas

Abstract

The Houston-Galveston-Brazoria urban area contains industrial petrochemical sources that emit volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, resulting in rapid and efficient ozone production downwind. During September to October 2006, the NOAA WP-3D aircraft conducted research flights as part of the second Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS II). We use measurements of NOx, SO₂, and speciated hydrocarbons from industrial sources in Houston to derive source emission ratios and compare these to emission inventories and the first Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) in 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, NOx/CO₂ emission ratios changed by an average of -29% ± 20%, while a significant trend in SO₂/CO₂ emission ratios was not observed. We find that high hydrocarbon emissions are routine for the isolated petrochemical facilities. Ethene (C₂H₄) and propene (C₃H₆) are the major contributors to ozone formation based on calculations of OH reactivity for organic species including C₂-C10 alkanes, C₂-C₅ alkenes, ethyne, and C₂-C₅ aldehydes and ketones. Measured ratios of C2H4/NOx and C3H6/NOx exceed emission inventory values by factors of 1.4-20 and 1-24, respectively. We examine trends in C₂H₄/NOx and C₃H₆/NOx ratios between 2000 and 2006 for the isolated petrochemical sources and estimate a change of -30% ± 30%, with significant day-to-day and within-plume variability. Median ambient mixing ratios of ethene and propene in Houston show decreases of -52% and -48%, respectively, between 2000 and 2006. The formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and peroxyacetyl nitrate products produced by alkene oxidation are observed downwind, and their time evolution is consistent with the rapid photochemistry that also produces ozone.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7wd413m

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-08-28T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact