Department of Environmental Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, China.
Department of Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, China.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Feb 1;303:114259. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114259. Epub 2021 Dec 8.
Kaohsiung City is the largest harbor city in Taiwan. The Linhai Special Industrial Complex (LSIC), which is the largest heavy industrial zone in Taiwan, and other industrial zones and storage station of petrochemicals are adjacent to the Kaohsiung Port. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are discharged from industrial processes in this large industrial area, are likely to cause the poor ambient air quality and atmospheric visibility in Kaohsiung City. This study uses the continuous monitoring data of 54 VOCs during 2018-2020 at eight air quality monitoring stations in the industrialized city to evaluate the spatiotemporal distributions and seasonal variations of VOC concentrations. Principal component analysis and ratios of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) are used to track the potential sources of VOCs for different stations. The highest average concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) was observed in winter (32.54 ppb), while the lowest TVOC concentration was observed in summer (25.84 ppb), which is related to the prevailing wind directions of monsoons. Kaohsiung is located in the weak monsoon wake area, and air pollutants are easily accumulated in the winter. The southwest wind prevailing in summer results in good diffusion and frequent rainfalls. However, the Qijin station close to the seashore has the highest average TVOC concentration among the eight stations. The seasonal prevailing winds caused the average TVOC concentrations in summer (41.3 ppb) to be higher than that in winter (31.62 ppb) at the Qijin station. It was attributed to the fact that the Qijin Peninsula is vulnerable to VOC emissions from ship sailing in the Taiwan Strait, the processing and export zone, and the shipbuilding yards nearby the Kaohsiung Harbor. Comparing the BTEX ratios of Kaohsiung City with the data of Hong Kong, we found that VOCs were mainly from industrial emissions in Kaohsiung City, which were significantly different from Hong Kong that VOCs were mainly emitted from traffic emissions. Overall, VOCs in Kaohsiung City have been decreased from 2018 to 2020; however, according to the analytical results of ozone formation potential, toluene and m,p-xylenes are the most potential photochemical precursors for ozone formation. The government should enforce and regulate aromatic hydrocarbons from industrial emission sources to reduce the potential formation of ozone.
高雄市是台湾最大的港口城市。毗邻高雄港的临海工业区（LSIC）是台湾最大的重工业区，以及其他工业区和石化仓储站。该大型工业区内的工业过程排放的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）可能导致高雄市的环境空气质量和大气能见度较差。本研究使用 2018-2020 年期间在工业化城市的 8 个空气质量监测站对 54 种 VOC 进行的连续监测数据，评估了 VOC 浓度的时空分布和季节性变化。主成分分析和苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯（BTEX）的比值用于跟踪不同站点 VOC 的潜在来源。总挥发性有机化合物（TVOC）的最高平均浓度出现在冬季（32.54 ppb），而夏季 TVOC 浓度最低（25.84 ppb），这与季风的盛行风向有关。高雄位于弱季风尾流区，冬季空气污染物容易积累。夏季盛行西南风，有利于扩散和频繁降雨。然而，靠近海边的旗津站在 8 个站点中具有最高的平均 TVOC 浓度。季节性盛行风导致旗津站夏季（41.3 ppb）的平均 TVOC 浓度高于冬季（31.62 ppb）。这归因于旗津半岛容易受到台湾海峡船舶航行、加工出口区和高雄港附近造船厂的 VOC 排放的影响。将高雄市的 BTEX 比值与香港的数据进行比较，发现 VOC 主要来自高雄市的工业排放，这与香港的 VOC 主要来自交通排放有明显不同。总体而言，2018 年至 2020 年，高雄市的 VOC 有所减少；然而，根据臭氧形成潜力的分析结果，甲苯和间、对二甲苯是形成臭氧的最具潜在光化学反应性的前体物。政府应加强和规范工业排放源中的芳烃，以减少臭氧的潜在形成。
