Emission characteristics and chemical components of size-segregated particulate matter in iron and steel industry

As one of the highest energy consumption and pollution industries, the iron and steel industry is regarded as a most important source of particulate matter emission. In this study, chemical components of size-segregated particulate matters (PM) emitted from different manufacturing units in iron and steel industry were sampled by a comprehensive sampling system. Results showed that the average particle mass concentration was highest in sintering process, followed by puddling, steelmaking and then rolling processes. PM samples were divided into eight size fractions for testing the chemical components, SO42− and NH4+ distributed more into fine particles while most of the Ca2+ was concentrated in coarse particles, the size distribution of mineral elements depended on the raw materials applied. Moreover, local database with PM chemical source profiles of iron and steel industry were built and applied in CMAQ modeling for simulating SO42− and NO3− concentration, results showed that the accuracy of model simulation improved with local chemical source profiles compared to the SPECIATE database. The results gained from this study are expected to be helpful to understand the components of PM in iron and steel industry and contribute to the source apportionment researches.