HR: 17:15h
AN: A54A-06    [Abstracts]
TI: Tracking Petroleum Refinery Emission Events Using Lanthanum and Lanthanides as Elemental Markers for Fine Particulate Matter
AU: Kulkarni, P
EM: pkulkarni@uh.edu
AF: University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Houston, TX 77004,
AU: Chellam, S
EM: schellam@central.uh.edu
AF: University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Houston, TX 77004,
AU: * Fraser, M P
EM: matthew.fraser@asu.edu
AF: Arizona State University, PO Box 872511, Tempe, AZ 85287-2511,
AB: This presentation reports the development and application of an analytical method to quantify the rare earth elements (REEs) in atmospheric particulate matter and emissions of catalyst material from the petroleum refining industry. Inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry following high temperature/high pressure microwave digestion has been used to study the REE composition of several fresh and spent catalysts used in fluidized-bed catalytic cracking (FCC) units in petroleum refineries as well as in ambient atmospheric fine particulate matter collected in Houston, TX. The results show that the routine emissions from local FCC units in Houston contribute a constant and low amount to ambient PM2.5 of ~0.1 micrograms per cubic meter. However, a significant (33 – 106 fold) increase in the contributions of FCC emissions to PM2.5 is quantified during an upset emission event compared with background levels associated with routine operation. The impact of emissions from the local refinery that reported the emission event was tracked to a site approximately 50 km downwind from the source, illustrating the potential exposure of humans over a large geographical area through the long-range transport of atmospheric fine particles as well as the power of elemental signatures to understand the sources of fine particles.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting