Variation of Air Pollutant Concentrations in Residential Areas of the Helsinki Metropolitan Region
Enroth, Joonas (2013)
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013060312442
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013060312442
Tiivistelmä
Residential wood combustion is one of the largest pollution sources in Finland. The purpose of this study was to look at the spatial and temporal variation of pollutants in the Helsinki metropolitan region. The primary interest was in observing the effects of residential wood combustion on the air quality and in studying how wood combustion emissions differ from traffic emissions.
The measurements were carried out during two weeks in February 2012 as a part of the MMEA (Measurement, Monitoring and Environmental Assessment) -project. The meas-urements were performed with Metropolia’s mobile air quality laboratory, Sniffer. The measurement campaign was realized in cooperation with the Finnish meteorological insti-tute, Technical University of Tampere and Helsinki Region Environmental Services Author-ity.
During the campaign, 52 hours’ worth of data with one second time resolution were meas-ured. The findings show that wood combustion creates a characteristic emission which is distinguishable from other sources. A period of long range transport of pollutants coincided with the measurement period, and it was found to be the dominating factor in air quality while present.
On the basis of the measurements, it seems that wood combustion has a significant effect on the air quality in the measured residential areas. The effects of wood combustion were found to be lower during the mornings than the evenings.
The most notable effects of wood combustion were found to be the particle emissions, where elevated levels of particles in the size range of 100-250 nm were observed. Traffic emissions were found to have their highest particle concentration in the smaller < 100 nm size range. The thermal treatment of samples showed wood combustion emissions having low volatility, while traffic emissions typically were found to be highly volatile.
The measurements were carried out during two weeks in February 2012 as a part of the MMEA (Measurement, Monitoring and Environmental Assessment) -project. The meas-urements were performed with Metropolia’s mobile air quality laboratory, Sniffer. The measurement campaign was realized in cooperation with the Finnish meteorological insti-tute, Technical University of Tampere and Helsinki Region Environmental Services Author-ity.
During the campaign, 52 hours’ worth of data with one second time resolution were meas-ured. The findings show that wood combustion creates a characteristic emission which is distinguishable from other sources. A period of long range transport of pollutants coincided with the measurement period, and it was found to be the dominating factor in air quality while present.
On the basis of the measurements, it seems that wood combustion has a significant effect on the air quality in the measured residential areas. The effects of wood combustion were found to be lower during the mornings than the evenings.
The most notable effects of wood combustion were found to be the particle emissions, where elevated levels of particles in the size range of 100-250 nm were observed. Traffic emissions were found to have their highest particle concentration in the smaller < 100 nm size range. The thermal treatment of samples showed wood combustion emissions having low volatility, while traffic emissions typically were found to be highly volatile.