Volatile organic compounds emission inventory of organic chemical raw material industry

The composition, distribution, photochemical activity, and emission profiles of 106 VOCs derived from the organic chemical raw material industry in Shanghai were investigated. Samples collected from eight organic chemical raw material factories that correspond to four industrial subclasses were analyzed via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis method. The distribution of the VOC components and the typical species corresponding to the different factories showed strong correlation with their raw materials as well as their products. The majority of the VOC components of the organic chemical raw material industry were found to be alkanes and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), and their percentage concentrations varied in the range 32.9–99.8%. Pentane, acetone, isopropanol, 1,4-dioxane, and n-hexane were identified as the five most frequently detected VOCs in the samples. Furthermore, in terms of photochemical activity, ozone formation potential (OFP) performed a similar pattern as VOCs results; the average source reactivity (SR) value was 1.70 g/g, which was at the medium-activity stage, indicating that alkenes and alcohols deserve more attention. Additionally, apart from the 106 frequently encountered VOCs, 31 less common VOCs were also detected. The quantitative and semi-quantitative analytical method used herein offered the possibility to detect non-conventional VOCs under common laboratory conditions. This enhanced analytical method demonstrated tremendous potential in improving VOCs monitoring techniques, and our findings showed significance with respect to refining the VOCs source profiles of the organic chemical raw material industry; this makes up for the absence of this information in related fields.