A comparative study of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Bangkok and Seoul | |
| Author | Chonthicha Suksuphak |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-08-47 |
| Subject(s) | Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons--Thailand--Bangkok Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons--Korea--Seoul |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The concentrations of particulate and gaseous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere were measured at Bangkok and Seoul during dry season for comparative analysis on levels, phase distribution and contributing sources. 25 PAHs compounds were analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric (GC-MS) for both sites. The average level of total airborne PAHs in Bangkok and Seoul were not significantly different but the PAHs profiles are. Most of PAHs compounds were detected in the gaseous phase which consisted of about 80% of total PAHs at both sites. The low molecular weight PAHs compounds were difficult usually not detected or quite low in particulate phase. The average concentrations of particulate PAHs at Bangkok and Seoul were almost the same (8.4 and 8.7 ng/m³, respectively). However, the particulate PAHs at Bangkok have high level of benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene and indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene whereas the prevailing PAHs compounds for particulate at Seoul were fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, chryrene and pyrene. In the gaseous phase, naphthalene was the highest in both sites. phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene concentrations at Bangkok were about three times higher than those at Seoul. The estimation of contributing sources was done by using Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) and diagnosis ratio. The results of both methods indicate the traffic source was the major contributing source of particulate PAHs with mostly from gasoline at Bangkok (46%) and Seoul (35%). The CMB results show that the percentage contribution of diesel vehicles to particulate PAH at Seoul (16%) was less than that at Bangkok (39%). In contrary, Seoul had higher particulate PAHs contribution from biomass burning and coal resident than Bangkok. Since these sources were not of high intensity in Seoul, they may be related to long range transport from outside of Seoul. The diagnostic ratios of were analyzed for gaseous PAHs compounds to characterize the PAHs emission sources. The results indicated that the gaseous PAHs appear to be mainly originated from biomass burning at both sites. |
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;Bae, Gwi-Nam; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Annachhatre, Ajit P.;Preeda Pakpian ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | RTG Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |