Emissions and source profiles of PM2.5 for coal-fired boilers in the Shanghai megacity, China

A dilution system was deployed in parallel with a reference direct sampling system to measure the emission rates of PM2.5 and filterable particulate matters (FPM) and to establish the PM2.5 source profiles for coal-fired boilers in Shanghai, China. Three representative stacks were tested and twelve sets of samples were collected over six days with four runs per stack. The filters were weighed and analyzed for PM2.5 mass and chemical composition. The PM2.5 mass concentration for stationary sources equipped with high efficiency dust removal devices was approximately 8.7 mg/m3 on average, with a range of 4.8-13.1 mg/m3, while the PM2.5/FPM ratio was 0.72 on average with a range of 0.55-0.94. The chemical components of PM2.5 were normalized to PM2.5 mass measured from the Teflon-membrane filters after subtracting system blank. With these data the local coal-fired source primary PM2.5 profiles in Shanghai were established, showing characteristics of high abundances of SO42−, Ca2+, Al, Fe, S, organic carbon, and geological materials. The PM2.5 source profiles derived from this study showed significant differences from those reported in the literature, underlying the importance of establishing local source profiles for receptor-oriented source apportionment models.