Source apportionment for particulate matter air quality management of a mining town in Quang Ninh, Vietnam | |
| Author | Nguyen Thanh Hang |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-10-09 |
| Subject(s) | Air quality management--Vietnam--Quang Ninh Air--Pollution--Vietnam--Quang Ninh |
| 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 | This work presents a source apportionment for PM2.5 conducted in Cam Pha mining town, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The province is located in the North East part of Vietnam and is known for its natural resources, especially the coal reserve, and fast economical growth. However, there are no systematic air quality data in the province. In particular, lack of PM2.5 data is a real obstacle for in depth studies on effects of industrial activities to the environment and community health. This study initiates the monitoring of PM2.5 at two sampling sites. The Mong Duong site, located in the mining area, was the intensive sampling site, and Cam Hai site, located in a remote village behind a mountain, was the reference site. Monitoring was done using Mini-vol samplers to collect 24 hour air samples. Samples were collected in both wet and dry seasons, each for about 30 days, and were transported from Vietnam to AIT, Thailand for mass and chemical analyses. Higher PM2.5 levels were observed in the dry season than the wet season inspite of abnormal rain observed during the dry season samling period. The PM2.5 mass concentrations were higher in Mong Duong than in Cam Hai in both seasons. In wet season, the PM2.5 mass concentrations were 46±30 μg/m³ in Mong Duong and 37±23 μg/m³ in Cam Hai while the corresponding levels in the dry season were 80±50 μg/m³ and 80±40 μg/m³ respectively. PM2.5 chemical compositions included water soluble ionic species (by IC), black carbon (by a smoke stain meter), and elements (by ICP-OES) were characterized. In both seasons, at Mong Duong and Cam Hai sites the PM2.5 mass concentrations were mainly contributed by sulfate, soot, NH4+ and crustal group. However, due to the lack of organic carbon (OC) data the unexplained mass remained high. The composition data were input to receptor modeling (CMB8.2 model) for quantitative source contribution analysis. The results showed that the major contributed sources in dry season in Mong Duong were diesel vehicles (more than 80%). In addition, Hysplit trajectory also provides information of air masses movement during two seasons. In wet season, the trajectory toward SW direction following the SW monsoon with air moist which creates wet removal bringing in better air quality. In dry season, the trajectory enters study area with the long path of NE direction contributing the long range transport air pollution in the province. Thus, for PM2.5 air quality improvement the major sources such as diesel vehicles should be addressed. Further analysis for chemical composition such as OC should be conducted for better source apportionment study. With the present dataset, the multivariate receptor models such as PMF should also be recommended for further studies on PM2.5 source apportionment. |
| Year | 2010 |
| 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 (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Preeda Pakpian;Prapat Pongkiatkul; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst(DAAD), Germany;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |