Investigation of formaldehyde sources and its relative emission intensity in shipping channel environment

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is considered one of the most abundant gas-phase carbonyl compounds in the atmosphere, which can be directly emitted through transportation sources. Long-Path Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) was used to observe HCHO in the river channel of Wusong Wharf in Shanghai, China for the whole year of 2019. Due to the impact of ship activity, the annual average HCHO level in the channel is about 2.5 times higher than that in the nearby campus environment. To explain the sources of HCHO under different meteorological conditions, the tracer-pair of CO and Ox (NO2+O3) was used on the clustered air masses. The results of the source appointment show that primary, secondary and background account for 24.14% (3.34 ± 1.19 ppbv), 44.78% (6.20 ± 2.04 ppbv) and 31.09% (4.31 ± 2.33 ppbv) of the HCHO in the channel when the air masses were from the mixed direction of the city and channel, respectively. By performing background station subtraction at times of high primary HCHO values and resolving the plume peaks, directly emitted HCHO/NO2 in the channel environment and plume were determined to be mainly distributed between 0.2 and 0.3. General cargo ships with higher sailing speeds or main engine powers tend to have higher HCHO/NO2 levels. With the knowledge of NO2 (or NOx) emission levels from ships, this study may provide data support for the establishment of HCHO emission factors.

Carbon footprints: Uncovering multilevel spatiotemporal changes of ship emissions during 2019-2021 in the U.S

Quantifying and understanding changes in carbon emissions is essential for the U.S. shipping industry to reduce carbon emissions, especially after its return to the Paris Agreement. We estimated carbon emissions from 48,321 ships in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) using the power-based method based on 3.6 billion Automatic Identification System (AIS) reports. We explored the characterization of carbon emissions from the national, regional, and port levels during 2019-2021 by allocating emissions on a 1 km*1 km grid through an activity-weighted method. The results show: (1) Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions within the EEZ show a temporal trend of decreased and then rebound, specifically from 32.628 Tg in 2019 to 30.741 Tg in 2020 and then bounced to 31.786 Tg in 2021. The spatial differences in emissions show significant heterogeneity; (2) There are significant differences in emissions by vessel type, flag, and operational mode for the four regions of the U.S. (Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, and Atlantic Coast). Thus, emissions in these regions show different variability patterns over three years. Notably, "port congestion" led to record high emissions on the Pacific Coast; (3) Containerized cargo contributes the most to port core area emissions, so most ports with higher throughputs have higher emissions, with Long Beach and Los Angeles having the highest. Emissions from coastal ports are high and volatile, while inland ports are low and stable. This study provides the U.S. with a high spatiotemporal resolution inventory of carbon emissions from ships, and the findings are expected to provide some reference for controlling ship emissions.

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on air pollutant emissions from vessels in Lianyungang Port

The COVID-19 has had a particularly significant impact on the shipping industry. Using AIS data, a "bottom-up" method was adopted to investigate whether the removal of port-imposed prevention regulations would affect ship activity and ship emissions in Lianyungang Port. The study discovered that, except for passenger ships, the total number of other ships has increased significantly, with tugs, tankers/chemical vessels, ROROs and work boats ranking among the top four. After the regulations were removed, the average normal cruising time per vessel increased from 12.23 to 20.05 h, an increase of 63.94 %, while the average operating time per vessel during slow cruising, maneuvering and hotelling decreased. Meanwhile, the total emissions of air pollutants from vessels have increased by >60 %. Relevant departments need to pay more attention to NOx and develop feasible policies to reduce emissions from especially cargo vessels, tankers and chemical vessels.

A Study on the Framework for Estimating Ship Air Pollutant Emissions—Focusing on Ports of South Korea

With the globalization of trade and the rapid development of the world economy, the problem of air pollution emissions produced by shipping is becoming more serious. The exhaust gas emitted by ships has become a significant source of air pollution in ocean and coastal areas. In recent years, governments have paid more attention to shipping emissions as a major source of environmental problems. Establishing ship emission inventories plays an important role in formulating ship emission control measures and regulations. This study aimed to propose a framework for calculating ship air pollutant emissions by comprehensively considering processes and methods officially used in developed countries such as the US and those in the EU, as well as South Korean circumstances and available data sets. The framework was divided into three sections: defining the inventory, data collection and analysis of the data, and ship air pollutant emission estimation. The results of this study provided a standard for South Korean domestic port emission inventories. A case study focused on the Gwangyang and Yeosu Ports, one of the leading port areas in South Korea, using adaptive data collection and emission-calculation processes. This study can be used as guidelines when the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) or the Ministry of Environment (MOE) adopts a standard process in South Korea in the near future. Subsequently, it is necessary to establish a national port emission management system to respond to world environmental changes.

Combustion Performance and Emission Characteristics of Marine Engine Burning with Different Biodiesel

Ship emissions are one of the main sources of air pollution in port cities. The prosperous maritime trade has brought great harm to the air quality of port cities while promoting the development of the world economy. During the berthing process, ship auxiliary machines emit a large amount of air pollutants, which have a great impact on air quality and public health. Alternative marine fuels are being studied and used frequently to reduce ship emissions. This research was carried out to investigate the gaseous and particles emission characteristics of a marine diesel engine during the application of experimental biodiesel fuels. To study the influence of mixed fuels on engine performance, measurements were made at different engine loads and speeds. Different diesel fuels were tested using various ratios between biodiesel and BD0 (ultra-low sulfur diesel) of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, and 100%. The results indicated the use of biodiesel has little influence on the combustion performance but has a certain impact on exhaust emissions. The octane number and laminar flame speed of biodiesel are higher than those of BD0, so the combustion time of the test diesel engine is shortened under the mixed mode of biodiesel. In addition, a high ratio of biodiesel leads to a decrease of the instantaneous peak heat release rate, causing the crank angle to advance. As the biodiesel blending ratio increased, most of the gaseous pollutants decreased, especially for CO, but it led to an increase of particle numbers. The particle size distribution exhibits a unimodal distribution under various conditions, with the peak value appearing at 30–75 nm. The use of biodiesel has no effect on this phenomenon. The peak positions strongly depend on fuel types and engine conditions. The particulate matter (PM) emitted from the test engine included large amounts of organic carbon (OC), which accounted for between 30% and 40% of PM. Whereas the elemental carbon (EC) accounted for between 10% and 20%, the water-soluble ions components accounted for 6–15%. Elemental components, which accounted for 3–8% of PM emissions, mainly consisted of Si, Fe, Sn, Ba, Al, Zn, V, and Ni. Generally, biodiesel could be a reliable alternative fuel to reduce ship auxiliary engine emissions at berth and improve port air quality.

The Use of the Novel Optical Method SEZO AM (WiRan Ltd.) for Measurements of Particulate Matter (PM10–2.5) in Port Areas-Case Study for Port of Gdynia (Poland)

From 1 March to 30 April and from 1 August to 30 September 2021, comparative studies of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were carried out in Gdynia. For intercalibration, a device was used that operates based on non-reference methodologies and without proven equivalence to the reference methodology (SEZO AM, WIRAN), and an EDM 180 analyzer (GRIMM) with certificates and approvals (US-EPA, UK-MCERTS, CN-CMA) was used. The aim of this research is to determine whether the SEZO AM device could be used in port areas for continuous PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations measurements. Two campaigns of two months allowed us to see a good agreement of the results achieved with both methods. The concordance of the results obtained from the SEZO AM and the EDM 180 methods amounted to between 78% and 94% for the PM2.5 and between 70% and 75% for the PM10. The comparison of two SEZO AM devices to a higher-class TSI OPS3330 reference in a measurement dust chamber showed a fit between 79% and 86% for the PM2.5 and between 81% and 86% for the PM10. This indicates the possibility of using this analyzer to measure the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 in the port atmosphere in which they were carried out. The preliminary analysis of meteorological parameters shows that the main potential impact on the concentration of the analyzed dust fractions measured by the SEZO AM method was relative humidity. The determination of the correction factor for the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and adding an inlet external cover contributed to a two-fold reduction in the analysis error and good concordance of the results, at a level of 93% for PM2.5 and 91% for PM10, without discarding any data.

From maritime salvage to IMO 2020 strategy: Two actions to protect the environment

Marine protection is one of the main Sustainable Development Goals designed by the United Nations. Specifically, Goal 6.3 - Clean Water and Sanitation - defends that the spill of dangerous and pollutant substances must be eliminated. This principle is inherent in Maritime law since maritime salvage concerns not only vessels and cargo but also the marine environment. Since the Torrey Canyon accident in 1967, spilt crude has become the centre of attention of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Nowadays, IMO has extended its scope of application to new threats, such as pollutant gas emissions. Its last approved strategy is IMO 2020, focused on the reduction of sulphur emissions by vessels. It came into force on the 1st of January 2020, becoming one effective measure to minimize the sulphur emissions to the atmosphere and to improve the environmental conditions, not only at the sea but also in the coastal and inland areas.

Trends in Vessel Atmospheric Emissions in the Central Mediterranean over the Last 10 Years and during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Giordan Lighthouse, located on the island of Gozo in the Malta-Sicily Channel within the central Mediterranean region, is ideally located to study the primary sources of atmospheric pollution. A total of 10 years of data have been accumulated from the reactive gas and greenhouse gas detectors and the aerosol analyzers found at this Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) regional station. The data has been evaluated, resulting in trends in emissions from shipping recorded within the same region coming to the fore. The other source of emissions that was evident within the recorded data originated from Mt. Etna, located on the island of Sicily and representing the highest active volcano in Europe. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of ship emissions on trace gases and aerosol background measurements at Giordan Lighthouse, including the putative influence of COVID-19 on the same emissions. The model used to evaluate ship emissions was the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM). From trace gas measurements at Giordan Lighthouse, a slowly decreasing trend in sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions was noted. To better understand the air quality results obtained, the STEAM model was fed, as an input, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) dataset to describe the vessel activity in the area concerned. This study also investigates the effects of the COVID19 pandemic on marine traffic patterns within the area and any corresponding changes in the air quality. Such an analysis was carried out through the use of SENTINEL 5 data.

Impact of air emissions from shipping on marine phytoplankton growth

With the rapid expansion of maritime traffic, increases in air emissions from shipping have exacerbated numerous environmental issues, including air pollution and climate change. However, the effects of such emissions on marine biogeochemistry remain poorly understood. Here, we collected ship-emitted particles (SEPs) from the stack of a heavy-oil-powered vessel using an onboard emission test system and investigated the impact of SEPs on phytoplankton growth over the northwest Pacific Ocean (NWPO). In SEP microcosm experiments conducted in oceanic zones with different trophic statuses, the phytoplankton response, as indicated by chlorophyll a (Chl a), has been shown to increase with the proportion of SEP-derived nitrogen (N) relative to N stocks (P_SN) in baseline seawater, suggesting that SEPs generally promote phytoplankton growth via N fertilisation. Simulations using an air quality model combined with a ship emission inventory further showed that oxidised N (NO_x) emissions from shipping contributed ~43% of the atmospheric N deposition flux in the NWPO. Air emissions from shipping (e.g. NO_x and sulphur dioxide) also indirectly enhanced the deposition of reduced N that existed in the atmosphere, constituting ~15% of the atmospheric N deposition flux. These results suggest that the impact of airborne ship emissions on atmospheric N deposition is comparable to that of land-based emissions in the NWPO. Based on the ship-induced P_SN in surface seawater calculated by modeling results and World Ocean Atlas 2013 nutrient dataset, and the well-established quantitative relationship between Chl a and P_SN obtained from microcosm experiments, we found a noticeable change in surface Chl a concentrations due to N deposition derived from marine traffic in the NWPO, particularly in the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea and open oceans. This work attempts to establish a direct link between marine productivity and air emissions from shipping.

Green Shipping Effect on Sustainable Economy and Environmental Performance

This paper focuses on green shipping and its’ influence on the sustainable economy and environmental performance. Based on the green shipping approach, this empirical study examines a survey sample of 193 responses from Portuguese and Spanish executive managers and uses exploratory factor analysis and structural equation model. The Green shipping approach supports the green theory. The results show the importance of green efficiency, green management, and pollution impact. The confirmation of the sizeable influence of green shipping on the sustainable economy and environmental performance constructs constitutes a major contribution to the literature. Green management and green efficiency contribute to controlling the impact of pollution with practical effects on economic sustainability. Another contribution arises from the fact that tax and financial incentives and environmental sustainability regulations indicate the relevance of the pollution impact and sustainable economy.

The effect of cleaning and repainting on the ship drag penalty

Although the hull of a recently dry-docked large ship is expected to be relatively smooth, surface scanning and experimentation reveal that it can exhibit an "orange-peel" roughness pattern with an equivalent sand-grain roughness height ks = 0. 101 mm. Using the known ks value and integral boundary layer evolution, a recently cleaned and coated full-scale ship was predicted to experience a significant increase in the average coefficient of friction %ΔC¯f and total hydrodynamic resistance %ΔR¯T during operation. Here the report also discusses two recently reported empirical estimations that can estimate k_s directly from measured surface topographical parameters, by-passing the need for experiments on replicated surfaces. The empirical estimations are found to have an accuracy of 4.5 - 5 percentage points in %ΔC¯f.

Fuel consumption and air emissions in one of the world's largest commercial fisheries

The little information available on fuel consumption and emissions by high seas tuna fisheries indicates that the global tuna fleet may have consumed about 2.5 Mt of fuel in 2009, resulting in the production of about 9 Mt of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases (GHGs), i.e., about 4.5-5% of the global fishing fleet emissions. We developed a model of annual fuel consumption for the large-scale purse seiners operating in the western Indian Ocean as a function of fishing effort, strategy, and vessel characteristics based on an original and unique data set of more than 4300 bunkering operations that spanned the period 2013-2019. We used the model to estimate the total fuel consumption and associated GHG and SO2 emissions of the Indian Ocean purse seine fishery between 1981 and 2019. Our results showed that the energetic performance of this fishery was characterized by strong interannual variability over the last four decades. This resulted from a combination of variations in tuna abundance but also changes in catchability and fishing strategy. In recent years, the increased targeting of schools associated with fish aggregating devices in response to market incentives combined with the IOTC management measure implemented to rebuild the stock of yellowfin tuna has strongly modified the productivity and spatio-temporal patterns of purse seine fishing. This had effects on fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions. Over the period 2015 to 2019, the purse seine fishery, including its support vessel component, annually consumed about 160,000 t of fuel and emitted 590,000 t of CO2-eq GHG. Furthermore, our results showed that air pollutant emissions can be significantly reduced when limits in fuel composition are imposed. In 2015, SO2 air pollution exceeded 1500 t, but successive implementation of sulphur limits in the Indian Ocean purse seine fishery in 2016 and 2018 have almost eliminated this pollution. Our findings highlight the need for a routine monitoring of fuel consumption with standardized methods to better assess the determinants of fuel consumption in fisheries and the air pollutants they emit in the atmosphere.

Decarbonization of Maritime Transport: Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

The purpose of this paper is to assess the status and prospects of the decarbonization of maritime transport. Already more than two years have passed since the landmark decision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in April 2018, which entailed ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. The paper attempts to address the following three questions: (a) where do we stand with respect to GHG emissions from ships, (b) how is the Initial IMO Strategy progressing, and (c) what should be done to move ahead? To that effect, our methodology includes commenting on some of the key issues addressed by the recently released 4th IMO GHG study, assessing progress at the IMO since 2018, and finally identifying other issues that we consider relevant and important as regards maritime GHG emissions, such as for instance the role of the European Green Deal and how this may interact with the IMO process. Even though the approach of the paper is to a significant extent qualitative, some key quantitative and modelling aspects are considered as well. On the basis of our analysis, our main conjecture is that there is not yet light at the end of the tunnel with respect to decarbonizing maritime transport.

Ship emission of nitrous acid (HONO) and its impacts on the marine atmospheric oxidation chemistry

Nitrous acid (HONO) is an important reservoir of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and thus plays a central role in tropospheric chemistry. Exhaust from engines has long been known as a major primary source of HONO, yet most previous studies focused on vehicle emissions on land. In comparison, ship emissions of HONO have been rarely characterized, and their impacts on the tropospheric oxidation chemistry have not been quantified. In this study, we conducted cruise measurements of HONO and related species over the East China Sea. Contrasting air masses from pristine marine background air to highly polluted ship plumes were encountered. The emission ratio of ΔHONO/ΔNO_x (0.51 ± 0.18%) was derived from a large number of fresh ship plumes. Using the in-situ measured emission ratio, a global ship emission inventory of HONO was developed based on the international shipping emissions of NO_x in the Community Emission Data System inventory. The global shipping voyage emits approximately 63.9 ± 22.2 Gg yr^-1 of HONO to the atmosphere. GEOS-Chem modelling with the addition of ship-emitted HONO showed that HONO concentrations could increase up to 40-100% over the navigation areas, leading to about 5-15% increases of primary OH production in the early-morning time. This study elucidates the potentially considerable effects of ship HONO emissions on the marine atmospheric chemistry, and calls for further studies to better characterize the ship emissions of HONO and other reactive species, which should be taken into account by global and regional models.

Characterization of atmospheric trace gases and water soluble inorganic chemical ions of PM1 and PM2.5 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi during 2017-18 winter

Water soluble inorganic chemical ions of PM₁ and PM_2.5 and atmospheric trace gases were monitored simultaneously on hourly resolution at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Delhi during 8 December 2017-10 February 2018. Monitoring was made by MARGA (Monitoring AeRosol and Gases in ambient Air) under winter fog experiment (WIFEX) program of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India. The result based on the analysis of the data so generated reveals that Cl^-, NH₄⁺, NO₃^- and SO₄^2- were dominant ions in order which collectively constituted 96.8 and 97.3% of the of the total measured ionic mass in PM₁ and PM_2.5 respectively. Their overall average concentrations in PM₁ were 19.5 ± 19.7, 18.4 ± 10.5, 16.6 ± 8.7 and 10.3 ± 5.7 μg/m³ and in PM_2.5 were 36.0 ± 33.9, 32.7 ± 17.2, 28.5 ± 13.6 and 19.9 ± 13.9 μg/m³. Average concentrations of HCl, HNO₃, HNO₂, SO₂ and NH₃ trace gases were 0.7 ± 0.3, 2.7 ± 1.1, 6.6 ± 4.7, 22.0 ± 12.3 and 25.7 ± 9.1 μg/m³ respectively. Weather parameters along with low mixing height played significant role in the occurrence of high concentration of these chemical species. NH₄⁺ was the prime neutralizer of the acidic components and mostly occurred in (NH₄)₂SO₄/NH₄HSO₄, NH₄NO₃ and NH₄Cl molecular forms. Major sources of these chemical species were fossil fuel combustion in aviation activity and transportation, coal burning in thermal power plants, industrial processes and emissions from biomass burning and agro-based activity. The quality of air with respect to PM_2.5 always remained deteriorated. It became alarming during low visibility period mainly due to high concentration of Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2- and NH₄⁺. Both meteorological and chemical processes interactively fed each other which occasionally resulted in fog development and visibility degradation. The knowledge gained by this study will help in simulation of atmospheric processes which lead to fog development and dispersal in the Delhi region.

Simulating the impacts of ship emissions on coastal air quality: Importance of a high-resolution emission inventory relative to cruise- and land-based observations

This work studied the impacts of ship emissions at a high temporal resolution on the real-time concentrations of PM_2.5, NO₂, and SO₂ in urban harbors and coastal sea areas, taking the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) as an example. The WRF-Chem model with 3 nested grids and ship emissions derived from an automatic identification system (AIS) were combined to simulate the air quality. The AIS data showed significant temporal fluctuations in ship emissions, with hourly mean fluxes of approximately 1082.41 ± 444.41 and 593.55 ± 404.95 g/h/km² near ports and in the channel waters of the YRD, respectively. The monthly mean contributions of shipping emissions reached 80.72% (2.15 ppbv) and 81.79% (8.79 ppbv) to ambient SO₂ and NO₂ in Ningbo Port, and 10.61% (6.96 μg/m³) to PM_2.5 in Shanghai Port, respectively, regions with dense ship traffic. The relative differences in the PM_2.5, SO₂, and NO₂ concentrations modeled using monthly and hourly ship emissions accounted for -10-15%, -10-30%, and - 5-30%, respectively. Compared with cruise- and land-based measurements, the simulations using hourly emissions were in much better agreement with the observations than those using monthly emissions and appropriately captured some air pollutant concentration peaks. Simulations during shipping-related periods with hourly ship emissions improved the normalized mean bias (NMBs) from -43.03%, 301.49%, and 223.02% to -27.28%, 90.45%, and 167.52%, respectively, for PM_2.5, SO₂, and NO₂, highlighting the importance of using ship emissions with a fine temporal resolution. Our study showed that ignoring hourly fluctuations in ship emissions during air quality modeling leads to considerable uncertainties, especially in coastal urban areas and harbors with high ship activities. These results imply that data with a high temporal resolution, such as hourly ship emissions, are necessary to understand the realistic impacts of shipping traffic and to implement more precise control policies to improve coastal air quality.

Isotopic Interpretation of Particulate Nitrate in the Metropolitan City of Karachi, Pakistan: Insight into the Oceanic Contribution to NOx

Nitrogen oxide (NO_x) abatement has become the focus of air quality management strategies. In this study, we examined NO_x sources and the atmospheric conversion of NO_x in Karachi, Pakistan, a megacity in South Asia with serious particulate pollution problems. Oceanic contributions to NO_x were quantified for the first time based on a novel approach using nitrogen/oxygen isotopic analysis in nitrate (δ¹⁵N-NO₃^-; δ¹⁸O-NO₃^-) and a Bayesian model. Our results showed that δ¹⁵N-NO₃^- in Karachi varied between -10.2‰ and +12.4‰. As indicated by the δ¹⁸O-NO₃^- findings (+66.2 ± 7.8‰), the •OH pathway dominated NO_x conversion throughout the nearly two-year observation, but high NO₃^- events were attributed to the O₃ pathway. Coal combustion was the most significant source (32.0 ± 9.8%) of NO_x in Karachi, with higher contributions in the autumn and winter; a similar situation occurred for biomass burning + lightning (30.3 ± 6.5%). However, mobile sources (25.2 ± 6.4%) and microbial processes (12.5 ± 7.5%) exhibited opposite seasonal trends. The oceanic contributions to NO_x in Karachi were estimated to be 16.8%, of which lightning, shipping emissions, and microbial processes accounted for 20.3%, 46.3%, and 33.4%, respectively, emphasizing the dominance of shipping emissions as an oceanic NO_x source.

Exploring the effectiveness of ECA policies in reducing pollutant emissions from merchant ships in Shanghai port waters

Using the AIS data in 2017, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of five ECA policies on pollutant emissions from merchant ships in Shanghai Port waters. Results show that the estimated annual emissions from merchant ships including cargo ships, container ships and tankers are 3.4029 × 10⁴ tons for NO_x, 2.1037 × 10⁴ tons for SO₂, 2.291 × 10³ tons for PM_2.5, and 2.921 × 10³ tons for PM₁₀ in 2017, respectively. Impact analysis results highlight the fact that effects of each ECA policy vary significantly among different merchant ship types and different water areas. The amount of pollutant emissions from cargo ships (e.g., SO₂ and PM_2.5) is most affected by the ECA policy. However, the NO_x emissions are not significantly changed under different ECA policies. Results also show that future ECA policies could cause a much greater decrease of pollutant emissions in water areas of Yangshan and Wusong.

The impact of ship emissions on nitrogen and sulfur deposition in China

A large amount of NO_X and SO₂ emitted from ships may elevate atmospheric N and S and eventually aggravate the deposition of N and S. The understanding of N and S deposition due to ship emissions is still limited, especially for China because it has a long coastline, busy shipping routes, and several large ports. To fill this gap, a comprehensive air quality model was employed in this study to quantify the contributions of ship emissions to N and S deposition on a national scale in China. Both the spatial and temporal variations of N and S deposition, as well as the major N and S species from ship traffic, were investigated. The results indicate that ship emissions contributed significantly to the deposition of N and S, especially in coastal and offshore areas, where the largest ship contribution to both N and S deposition could exceed 15 kg·ha^-1·yr^-1. For N deposition, ship emissions caused an increase in the total N deposition, not only in port areas and along shipping routes but also far inland, with evident seasonal variations. The contribution from dry N deposition was evidently larger than wet N deposition, especially over the coastal areas. S deposition, however, was generally higher along shipping routes but exhibited distinct seasonal variations. The total S deposition was dominated by dry deposition, especially over offshore areas. Ship-caused dry S deposition occurred mainly in offshore areas, while wet S deposition could be found over wider inland regions and inland waterways, although with a markedly smaller magnitude.

Shipping emission inventories in China's Bohai Bay, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta in 2018

Pollutant emissions from ships could increase with expanding international trade and shipping fleet size, posing a severe but often overlooked threat to public health. China houses the three biggest port clusters in the world: the Bohai Bay (BB), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and must combat pollutant emissions. This study examines the emissions of key pollutants (i.e., NO_X, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, HC, CO, SO_X, CO₂, NMVOC, and CH₄) utilizing a bottom-up methodology with the aid of automatic identification system data. Our results show that among the three regions studied, ships in the YRD produce the most emissions, accounting for 47.84% of the combined total emissions in 2018. We evaluate the emissions from different ship types, operation modes, and discharge equipment. Container ships account for ~50% of all emissions, which are mainly generated during the cruising phase. Different power sources produce varying levels of pollutants owing to power, load, and discharge variations. In addition, ship emissions have seasonal characteristics, which are reflected by the decline trend recorded in February, July, August, and December. This baseline dataset could aid comparisons with historic or future emission data and help establish regulatory actions to improve air quality.

Impact of Sea Breeze Circulation on the Transport of Ship Emissions in Tangshan Port, China

A sea breeze is a local circulation that occurs in coastal regions from the poles to the equator. The adverse influence of ship emissions on air quality in coastal areas may be aggravated by the onshore flow of sea breeze circulation. However, our knowledge regarding the evolution of ship-emitted pollutants during a specific sea breeze episode is still limited. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigated the evolution of ship emissions during a sea breeze episode that occurred on 29 June, 2014 in Tangshan port in China by employing the WRF/Chem model. NO2, one of the primary pollutants emitted by ships, was selected as the target pollutant for investigation. The results indicate that the ground level NO2 concentration was considerably affected by sea breeze circulation. Although the onset of the sea breeze was delayed until nearly midday due to offshore synoptic winds, ship-emitted NO2 was transported to more than 100 km inland with the penetration of the sea breeze. Further investigation found that the averaged concentration of ship-contributed NO2 during the episode showed an evident downward trend as the distance from the coastline increased. Vertically, the shallow atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) on the sea limited the vertical dispersion of ship emissions, and the pollutant was transported shoreward by the sea breeze within this shallow ABL. The height of the ABLs is lowered in coastal regions due to the cooling effect of sea breezes which brings the cool marine air to the hot land surface. Ship-contributed NO2 was mostly trapped in the shallow ABL; thereby, its concentration increased.

Ship Emission Impacts on Air Quality and Human Health in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region, China, in 2015, With Projections to 2030

Ship emissions contribute to air pollution, increasing the adverse health impacts on people living in coastal cities. We estimated the impacts caused by ship emissions, both on air quality and human health, in 2015 and future (2030) within the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China. In addition, we assessed the potential health benefits of implementing an Emission Control Area (ECA) in the region by predicting avoided premature mortality with and without an ECA. In 2015, ship emissions increased PM2.5 concentrations and O3 mixing ratios by 1.4 μg/m3 and 1.9 ppb, respectively, within the PRD region. This resulted in 466 and 346 excess premature acute deaths from PM2.5 and O3, respectively. Premature mortality from chronic exposures was even more significant, with 2,085 and 852 premature deaths from ship-related PM2.5 and O3, respectively. In 2030, we projected the future ship emissions with and without an ECA, using two possible land scenarios. With an ECA, we predicted 76% reductions in SO2 and 13% reductions in NO x from the shipping sector. Assuming constant land emissions from 2015 in 2030 (2030 Constant scenario), we found that an ECA could avoid 811 PM2.5-related and 108 O3-related deaths from chronic exposures. Using 2030 Projected scenario for land emissions, we found that an ECA would avoid 1,194 PM2.5-related and 160 O3-related premature deaths in 2030. In both scenarios, implementing an ECA resulted in 30% fewer PM2.5-related premature deaths and 10% fewer O3-related premature deaths, illustrating the importance of reducing ship emissions.

Spatial variation in the association between NO2 concentrations and shipping emissions in the Red Sea

Air pollution from shipping emissions poses significant health and environmental risks, particularly in the coastal regions. For the first time, this region as one of the busiest seas and most important international shipping lane in the world with significant nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) emissions has been analyzed comprehensively. This paper aims to characterize and quantify the contribution of maritime transport sector emissions to NO₂ concentrations in the Red Sea using local Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. Maritime traffic volume was estimated using SaudiSat satellite-based Automatic Identification System (S-AIS) data, and the remotely measured tropospheric NO₂ concentrations data was acquired from the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) satellite. A significant spatial variation in the NO₂ values was detected across the Red Sea, with values ranging from 4.03 × 10¹⁴ to 41.39 × 10¹⁴ molecules/cm². Most notably, the NO₂ concentrations in international waters were more than double those in the western coastal regions, whereas the concentrations close to seaports were 100% higher than those over international waters. The results indicated that the local GWR model performed significantly better than the global ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model. The GWR model had a strong and significant overall coefficient of determination with an r² of 0.94 (p < 0.005) in comparison to the OLS model with an r² of 0.45 (p < 0.005). Maritime traffic volume and proximity to seaports weighted by shipping activities explained about 94% of the variations of NO₂ concentrations in the Red Sea. The results of this study suggest that the S-AIS data and environmental satellite measurements can be used to assess the impacts of NO₂ concentrations from shipping emissions. These findings should stimulate further research into using additional covariates to explain the NO₂ concentrations in areas near seaports where the standardized residuals are high.

Impact of emission control areas on atmospheric pollutant emissions from major ocean-going ships entering the Shanghai Port, China

Ocean-going ships are mostly driven by high‑sulfur heavy fuel oil, which poses public health and environmental concerns. Emission control areas (ECA) have been developed for the regulatory control of the sulfur content in fuel. We tracked 28 sample vessels that entered and exited Shanghai Port, to understand how air pollutants, including oxysulfides (SOx), nitric oxide (NOx), and particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM₁₀), would change under the ECA regulations. Emission reductions vary with the types and sizes of the ships. In our sample pool, oil/chemical tankers and container ships have the highest decline rates of SOx emissions at 26.8%-56.4% and 17.4%-56.6%, respectively. Cruise ships, container ships, and liquefied gas carriers occupy the highest share ratios of pollutant emissions in the sample pool because of the higher average gross tonnage and correspondingly higher-rated power of the ships' main engines. As expected, SOx and PM₁₀ emissions under hoteling conditions (operations while stationary at dock) can be considerably reduced by switching to low-sulfur fuel. Using fuel with the much lower sulfur content of 0.1% m/m in the ECA, the SOx and PM₁₀ emissions of our sample pool could be reduced considerably by up to 94.4% and 78.3%, respectively, compared to the 0.5% m/m sulfur content used during ship hoteling.

Assigning machinery power values for estimating ship exhaust emissions: Comparison of auxiliary power schemes

While ship exhaust emissions can be calculated at both large scales and fine resolutions due to the availability of activity data from the Automatic Identification System, there are still uncertainties in the assignment of ship engine and boiler power, which then leads to uncertainties in the estimated emissions. Reliable information is usually available for main engines, including engine type and installed power, and physical models exist for estimating propulsive power requirements. However, similar models are not available for estimating auxiliary power requirements. This study examines methods for calculating the actual operating power of auxiliary engines and auxiliary boilers. Earlier approaches assumed that installed auxiliary engine power increased in proportion to installed main engine power. Auxiliary-to-main engine power ratios were specified by ship type, and load factors were specified by ship type and operating mode. Auxiliary boiler power was generally not differentiated by ship size. More recent approaches are based on extensive ship survey data, and give tables of auxiliary engine and auxiliary boiler power binned against ship type, ship size and operating mode. These surveys show that auxiliary power does not necessarily increase with ship size or main engine power. A revised approach based on the recent data sources is adopted and applied to a case study of four ports in southeast Australia. The revised approach is informed by a local survey of ships to investigate auxiliary power demand. Comparisons are made of the impact of the different approaches on the magnitude and spatial distribution of the emissions.

Influence of ship emissions on NOx, SO2, O3 and PM concentrations in a North-Sea harbor in France

The influence of in-port ship emissions on gases and PM₁₀ concentrations has been estimated in the port city of Calais, northern France, one of the busiest harbor in Europe, with numerous rotations of ferries or roll-on/roll-off cargo in average per day. NO_x, SO₂, O₃ and PM₁₀ concentrations were continuously measured over a three-month period, as well as real-time particle size distribution. A rural site located at Cape Gris-Nez, 20km from Calais, was considered to deduce intrinsic contribution of ship emissions at the harbor city. The average concentrations of the studied species as well as the pattern of the conditional bivariate probability function at the two sites evidenced that in-port shipping, especially during the maneuvering operations, has an important influence on the NO_x and SO₂ concentrations. The impact of shipping in the harbor of Calais on average concentrations was estimated to 51% for SO₂, 35% for NO, 15% for NO₂ and 2% for PM₁₀ in the studied period. Concentration peaks of SO₂ and NOx associated with an O₃ depletion appeared synchronized with departures and arrivals of ferries. For winds blowing from the harbor, when compared to the background level, the number of particles appeared 10 times higher, with the highest differences in the 30-67nm and the 109-167nm size ranges. The average impact of in-port ships on PM₁₀ concentrations was estimated to +28.9μg/m³ and concerned mainly the PM₁ size fraction (40%). Punctually, PM₁₀ can potentially reach a concentration value close to 100μg/m³.

Emission characteristics of offshore fishing ships in the Yellow Bo Sea, China

Maritime transport has been playing a decisive role in global trade. Its contribution to the air pollution of the sea and coastal areas has been widely recognized. The air pollutant emission inventories of several harbors in China have already been established. However, the emission factors of local ships have not been addressed comprehensively, and thus are lacking from the emission inventories. In this study, on-board emission tests of eight diesel-powered offshore fishing ships were conducted near the coastal region of the northern Yellow Bo Sea fishing ground of Dalian, China. Results show that large amounts of fine particles (<0.5μm, 90%) were found in maneuvering mode, which were about five times higher than those during cruise mode. Emission rates as well as emission factors based on both distance and fuel were determined during the cruise and maneuvering modes (including departure and arrival). Average emission rates and distance-based emission factors of CO, HC and PM were much higher during the maneuvering mode as compared with the cruise mode. However, the average emission rate of Nitrous Oxide (NO_x) was higher during the cruise mode as compared with the maneuvering modes. On the contrary, the average distance-based emission factors of NO_x were lower during the cruise mode relative to the maneuvering mode due to the low sailing speed of the latter.

High-spatiotemporal-resolution ship emission inventory of China based on AIS data in 2014

Ship exhaust emissions have been considered a significant source of air pollution, with adverse impacts on the global climate and human health. China, as one of the largest shipping countries, has long been in great need of in-depth analysis of ship emissions. This study for the first time developed a comprehensive national-scale ship emission inventory with 0.005°×0.005° resolution in China for 2014, using the bottom-up method based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data of the full year of 2014. The emission estimation involved 166,546 unique vessels observed from over 15billion AIS reports, covering OGVs (ocean-going vessels), CVs (coastal vessels) and RVs (river vessels). Results show that the total estimated ship emissions for China in 2014 were 1.1937×10⁶t (SO₂), 2.2084×10⁶t (NO_X), 1.807×10⁵t (PM₁₀), 1.665×10⁵t (PM_2.5), 1.116×10⁵t (HC), 2.419×10⁵t (CO), and 7.843×10⁷t (CO₂, excluding RVs), respectively. OGVs were the main emission contributors, with proportions of 47%-74% of the emission totals for different species. Vessel type with the most emissions was container (~43.6%), followed by bulk carrier (~17.5%), oil tanker (~5.7%) and fishing ship (~4.9%). Monthly variations showed that emissions from transport vessels had a low point in February, while fishing ship presented two emission peaks in May and September. In terms of port clusters, ship emissions in BSA (Bohai Sea Area), YRD (Yangtze River Delta) and PRD (Pearl River Delta) accounted for ~13%, ~28% and ~17%, respectively, of the total emissions in China. On the contrast, the average emission intensities in PRD were the highest, followed by the YRD and BSA regions. The establishment of this high-spatiotemporal-resolution ship emission inventory fills the gap of national-scale ship emission inventory of China, and the corresponding ship emission characteristics are expected to provide certain reference significance for the management and control of the ship emissions.

Experimental investigation on NOx and green house gas emissions from a marine auxiliary diesel engine using ultralow sulfur light fuel

In recent years, marine auxiliary diesel engine has been widely used to produce electricity in the large ocean-going ship. One of the main technical challenges for ocean-going ship is to reduce pollutant emissions from marine auxiliary diesel engine and to meet the criteria of disposal on ships pollutants of IMO (International Maritime Organization). Different technical changes have been introduced in marine auxiliary diesel engine to apply clean fuels to reduce pollutant emissions. The ultralow sulfur light fuel will be applied in diesel engine for emission reductions in China. This study is aimed to investigate the impact of fuel (ultralow sulfur light fuel) on the combustion characteristic, NOx and green house gas emissions in a marine auxiliary diesel engine, under the 50%-90% engine speeds and the 25%-100% engine torques. The experimental results show that, in the marine auxiliary diesel engine, the cylinder pressure and peak heat release rate increase slightly with the increase of engine torques, while the ignition advances and combustion duration become longer. With the increases of the engine speed and torque, the fuel consumption decreases significantly, while the temperature of the exhaust manifold increases. The NOx emissions increase significantly with the increases of the engine speed and torque. The NO emission increases with the increases of the engine speed and torque, while the NO₂ emission decreases. Meanwhile, the ratio of NO₂ and NO is about 1:1 when the diesel engine operated in the low speed and load, while the ratio increases significantly with the increases of engine speed and torque, due to the increase of the cylinder temperature in the diffusive combustion mode. Moreover, the CO₂ emission increases with the increases of engine speed and torque by the use of ultralow sulfur light fuel.

Spatial and Seasonal Dynamics of Ship Emissions over the Yangtze River Delta and East China Sea and Their Potential Environmental Influence

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) port cluster is one of five major port clusters in China and is home to Shanghai port, the largest port worldwide. In this study, an automatic identification system-based model was built to estimate the ship exhaust emissions in the YRD and the East China Sea within 400 km of the coastline. In 2010, the total emissions of SO2, NOX, and PM2.5 were 3.8 × 10(5) tonnes/yr, 7.1 × 10(5) tonnes/yr, and 5.1 × 10(4) tonnes/yr, respectively. More than 60% and 85% of the ship emissions occurred within 100 km and 200 km of the coastline, respectively. Ship emissions also showed distinct seasonal variability. The emission of SO2 and NOX by ships in hot spots, such as ports and vessel traffic hubs was much higher than that on land, with maximum SO2 and NOX intensities from ships that were 36 times and 17 times greater, respectively, than the maximal land-based emissions. The potential impact of ship emissions at six hot spots on the surrounding atmospheric environment was estimated with the HYSPLIT model. Our study demonstrated that ship emissions have an important impact on both the entire YRD region and on greater East China.

Organic aerosol molecular composition and gas-particle partitioning coefficients at a Mediterranean site (Corsica)

Molecular speciation of atmospheric organic matter was investigated during a short summer field campaign performed in a citrus fruit field in northern Corsica (June 2011). Aimed at assessing the performance on the field of newly developed analytical protocols, this work focuses on the molecular composition of both gas and particulate phases and provides an insight into partitioning behavior of the semi-volatile oxygenated fraction. Limonene ozonolysis tracers were specifically searched for, according to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data previously recorded for smog chamber experiments. A screening of other oxygenated species present in the field atmosphere was also performed. About sixty polar molecules were positively or tentatively identified in gas and/or particle phases. These molecules comprise a wide range of branched and linear, mono and di-carbonyls (C3-C7), mono and di-carboxylic acids (C3-C18), and compounds bearing up to three functionalities. Among these compounds, some can be specifically attributed to limonene oxidation and others can be related to α- or β-pinene oxidation. This provides an original snapshot of the organic matter composition at a Mediterranean site in summer. Furthermore, for compounds identified and quantified in both gaseous and particulate phases, an experimental gas/particle partitioning coefficient was determined. Several volatile products, which are not expected in the particulate phase assuming thermodynamic equilibrium, were nonetheless present in significant concentrations. Hypotheses are proposed to explain these observations, such as the possible aerosol viscosity that could hinder the theoretical equilibrium to be rapidly reached.

Differential proteomic analysis of mouse macrophages exposed to adsorbate-loaded heavy fuel oil derived combustion particles using an automated sample-preparation workflow

Ship diesel combustion particles are known to cause broad cytotoxic effects and thereby strongly impact human health. Particles from heavy fuel oil (HFO) operated ships are considered as particularly dangerous. However, little is known about the relevant components of the ship emission particles. In particular, it is interesting to know if the particle cores, consisting of soot and metal oxides, or the adsorbate layers, consisting of semi- and low-volatile organic compounds and salts, are more relevant. We therefore sought to relate the adsorbates and the core composition of HFO combustion particles to the early cellular responses, allowing for the development of measures that counteract their detrimental effects. Hence, the semi-volatile coating of HFO-operated ship diesel engine particles was removed by stepwise thermal stripping using different temperatures. RAW 264.7 macrophages were exposed to native and thermally stripped particles in submersed culture. Proteomic changes were monitored by two different quantitative mass spectrometry approaches, stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and dimethyl labeling. Our data revealed that cells reacted differently to native or stripped HFO combustion particles. Cells exposed to thermally stripped particles showed a very differential reaction with respect to the composition of the individual chemical load of the particle. The cellular reactions of the HFO particles included reaction to oxidative stress, reorganization of the cytoskeleton and changes in endocytosis. Cells exposed to the 280 °C treated particles showed an induction of RNA-related processes, a number of mitochondria-associated processes as well as DNA damage response, while the exposure to 580 °C treated HFO particles mainly induced the regulation of intracellular transport. In summary, our analysis based on a highly reproducible automated proteomic sample-preparation procedure shows a diverse cellular response, depending on the soot particle composition. In particular, it was shown that both the molecules of the adsorbate layer as well as particle cores induced strong but different effects in the exposed cells.

Towards an integrated environmental risk assessment of emissions from ships' propulsion systems

Large ships, particularly container ships, tankers, bulk carriers and cruise ships are significant individual contributors to air pollution. The European Environment Agency recognizes that air pollution in Europe is a local, regional and transborder problem caused by the emission of specific pollutants, which either directly or through chemical reactions lead to negative impacts, such as damage to human health and ecosystems. In the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament emissions from ships are mentioned explicitly in the list of pressures and impacts that should be reduced or minimized to maintain or obtain a good ecological status. While SOx and NOx contribute mainly to ocean and soil acidification and climate change, PM (particularly ultrafine particles in the range of nanoparticles) has the potential to act more directly on human and ecosystem health. Thus, in terms of risk assessment, one of the most dangerous atmospheric aerosols for environmental and human health is in the size range of nanoparticles. To our knowledge, no study has been carried out on the effects of the fraction that ends up in the water column and to which aquatic and sediment-dwelling organisms are exposed. Therefore, an integrated environmental risk assessment of the effects of emissions from oceangoing ships including the aquatic compartment is necessary. Research should focus on the quantitative and qualitative determination of pollutant emissions from ships and their distribution and fate. This will include the in situ measurement of emissions in ships in order to derive realistic emission factors, and the application of atmospheric and oceanographic transportation and chemistry models.

Ship-plume sulfur chemistry: ITCT 2K2 case study

The ship-plume sulfur chemistry was investigated for the ITCT 2K2 (Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2002) ship-plume experiment, using the ship-plume photochemical/dynamic model developed in this study. In order to evaluate the performance of the model, the model-predicted mixing ratios of SO2 and H2SO4 were compared with those observed. From these comparisons, it was found that the model-predicted levels were in reasonable agreements with those observed (0.56≤R≤0.71), when the pH of sea-salt particles (pHss) was ≤~6.5. The ship-plume equivalent lifetimes of SO2 (τ(eq)(SO(2))) were also estimated/investigated for this particular ship-plume case. The magnitudes of τ(eq)(SO(2)) were found to be controlled by two main factors: (i) the mixing ratios of in-plume hydroxyl radicals (OH) and (ii) pHss. The former is governed primarily by stability conditions of the marine boundary layer (MBL), when the ship NOx emission rate is fixed. The latter determines if the heterogeneous oxidation of dissolved SO2 occurs via reaction with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, when pHss<6.5) or with ozone (O3, when pHss>6.5). According to the multiple ship-plume photochemical/dynamic model simulations, the estimated τ(eq)(SO(2)) over the entire ship plumes ranged from 10.32 to 14.32 h under moderately stable (E) to stable (F) MBL conditions. These values were clearly shorter than the background SO2 lifetime (τ(b)(SO(2))) of 15.18-23.20 h. In contrast, τ(eq)(SO(2)) was estimated to be 0.33 h when the pHss remained at ~8.0 (a rather unlikely case). In addition, the SO2 loss budget was further analyzed to estimate the influences of the two main factors on the ship-plume sulfur chemistry. The changes in the loss budget with pHss clearly showed a shift in the dominant SO2 loss processes from heterogeneous SO2 conversion (when pHss>~6.5) to the gas-phase oxidation of SO2 by OH (when pHss<~6.5).

Greenhouse gas and criteria emission benefits through reduction of vessel speed at sea

Reducing emissions from ocean-going vessels (OGVs) as they sail near populated areas is a widely recognized goal, and Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) is one of several strategies that is being adopted by regulators and port authorities. The goal of this research was to measure the emission benefits associated with greenhouse gas and criteria pollutants by operating OGVs at reduced speed. Emissions were measured from one Panamax and one post-Panamax class container vessels as their vessel speed was reduced from cruise to 15 knots or below. VSR to 12 knots yielded carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) emissions reductions (in kg/nautical mile (kg/nmi)) of approximately 61% and 56%, respectively, as compared to vessel cruise speed. The mass emission rate (kg/nmi) of PM(2.5) was reduced by 69% with VSR to 12 knots alone and by ~97% when coupled with the use of the marine gas oil (MGO) with 0.00065% sulfur content. Emissions data from vessels while operating at sea are scarce and measurements from this research demonstrated that tidal current is a significant parameter affecting emission factors (EFs) at lower engine loads. Emissions factors at ≤20% loads calculated by methodology adopted by regulatory agencies were found to underestimate PM(2.5) and NO(x) by 72% and 51%, respectively, when compared to EFs measured in this study. Total pollutant emitted (TPE) in the emission control area (ECA) was calculated, and emission benefits were estimated as the VSR zone increased from 24 to 200 nmi. TPE(CO2) and TPE(PM2.5) estimated for large container vessels showed benefits for CO(2) (2-26%) and PM(2.5) (4-57%) on reducing speeds from 15 to 12 knots, whereas TPE(CO2) and TPE(PM2.5) for small and medium container vessels were similar at 15 and 12 knots.

Benefits of two mitigation strategies for container vessels: cleaner engines and cleaner fuels

Emissions from ocean-going vessels (OGVs) are a significant health concern for people near port communities. This paper reports the emission benefits for two mitigation strategies, cleaner engines and cleaner fuels, for a 2010 container vessel. In-use emissions were measured following International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocols. The overall in-use nitrogen oxide (NO(x)) emission factor was 16.1 ± 0.1 gkW(-1) h(-1), lower than the Tier 1 certification (17 gkW(-1) h(-1)) and significantly lower than the benchmark value of 18.7 gkW(-1) h(-1) commonly used for estimating emission inventories. The in-use particulate matter (PM(2.5)) emission was 1.42 ± 0.04 gkW(-1) h(-1) for heavy fuel oil (HFO) containing 2.51 wt % sulfur. Unimodal (∼30 nm) and bimodal (∼35 nm; ∼75 nm) particle number size distributions (NSDs) were observed when the vessel operated on marine gas oil (MGO) and HFO, respectively. First-time emission measurements during fuel switching (required 24 nautical miles from coastline) showed that concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and particle NSD took ∼55 min to reach steady-state when switching from MGO to HFO and ∼84 min in the opposite direction. Therefore, if OGVs commence fuel change at the regulated boundary, then vessels can travel up to 90% of the distance to the port before steady-state values are re-established. The transient behavior follows a classic, nonlinear mixing function driven by the amount of fuel in day tank and the fuel consumption rate. Hence, to achieve the maximum benefits from a fuel change regulation, fuel switch boundary should be further increased to provide the intended benefits for the people living near the ports.

Effectiveness of emission control technologies for auxiliary engines on ocean-going vessels

Large auxiliary engines operated on ocean-going vessels in transit and at berth impact the air quality of populated areas near ports. This paper presents new information on the comparison of emission ranges from three similar engines and the effectiveness of three control technologies: switching to cleaner burning fuels, operating in the low oxides of nitrogen (NOx) mode, and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). In-use measurements of gaseous (NOx, carbon monoxide [CO], carbon dioxide [CO2]) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5; total and speciated) emissions were made on three auxiliary engines on post-PanaMax class container vessels following the International Organization for Standardization-8178-1 protocol. The in-use NOx emissions for the MAN B&W 7L32/40 engine family vary from 15 to 21.1 g/kW-hr for heavy fuel oil and 8.9 to 19.6 g/kW-hr for marine distillate oil. Use of cleaner burning fuels resulted in NOx reductions ranging from 7 to 41% across different engines and a PM2.5 reduction of up to 83%. The NOx reductions are a consequence of fuel nitrogen content and engine operation; the PM2.5 reduction is attributed to the large reductions in the hydrated sulfate and organic carbon (OC) fractions. As expected, operating in the low-NOx mode reduced NOx emissions by approximately 32% and nearly doubled elemental carbon (EC) emissions. However, PM2.5 emission factors were nearly unchanged because the EC emission factor is only approximately 5% of the total PM2.5 mass. SCR reduced the NOx emission factor to less than 2.4 g/kW-hr, but it increased the PM2.5 emissions by a factor of 1.5-3.8. This increase was a direct consequence of the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfate emissions on the SCR catalyst. The EC and OC fractions of PM2.5 reduced across the SCR unit.

Estimation of shipping emissions in Candarli Gulf, Turkey

Ships are significant air pollution sources as their high powered main engines often use heavy fuels. The major atmospheric components emitted are nitrogen oxides, particulate matter (PM), sulfur oxide gases, carbon oxides, and toxic air pollutants. Shipping emissions cause severe impacts on health and environment. These effects of emissions are emerged especially in territorial waters, inland seas, canals, straits, bays, and port regions. Candarli Gulf is one of the major industrial regions on the Aegean side of Turkey. The marine environment of the region is affected by emissions from ships calling to ten different ports. In this study, NO( x ), SO(2), CO(2), hydrocarbons (HC), and PM emissions from 7,520 ships are estimated during the year of 2007. These emissions are classified regarding operation modes and types of ships. Annual shipping emissions are estimated as 631.2 t year(-1) for NO(x), 573.6 t year(-1) for SO(2), 33,848.9 t year(-1) for CO(2), 32.3 t year(-1) for HC, and 57.4 t year(-1) for PM.

The contribution of ship emissions to air pollution in the North Sea regions

As a consequence of the global distribution of manufacturing sites and the increasing international division of labour, ship traffic is steadily increasing and is becoming more and more important as an origin of air pollution. This study investigates the impact of ship emissions in coastal areas of the North Sea under conditions of the year 2000 by means of a regional chemistry transport model which runs on a sufficiently high resolution to study air pollution in coastal regions. It was found that northern Germany and Denmark in summer suffer from more than 50% higher sulphate, nitrate and ammonium aerosol concentrations due to contributions from ships. The implementation of a sulphur emission control area (SECA) in the North Sea, as it was implemented at the end of 2007, directly results in reduced sulphur dioxide and sulphate aerosol concentrations while nitrate aerosol concentrations are slightly increased.

Modeling of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) concentrations resulting from ships at berth

Oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)) emissions from ships (marine vessels) contribute to poor air quality that negatively impacts public health and communities in coastal areas and far inland. These emissions often excessively harm human health, environment, wildlife habituates, and quality of life of communities and indigenous of people who live near ports. This study was conducted to assess the impact of NO(x) emissions origination from ships at berth on a nearby community. It was undertaken at Said Bin Sultan Naval base in Wullayat Al-Mussana (Sultanate of Oman) during the year 2005. The Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST) model was adopted to determine the dispersion of NO(x) into port and beyond into surrounding urban areas. The hourly and monthly contours (isopleths) of NO(x) concentrations in and around the port were plotted. The results were analyzed to determine the affected area and the level of NO(x) concentrations. The highest concentration points in the studied area were also identified. The isopleths of NO(x) indicated that most shipping emissions of NO(x) occur at the port can be transported over land. The output results can help to derive advice of recommendations ships operators and environmentalists to take the correct decision to prevent workers and surrounded environment from pollution.