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  • Insight into the Variabilit...
    Zong, Zheng; Sun, Zeyu; Xiao, Leilei; Tian, Chongguo; Liu, Junwen; Sha, Qinge; Li, Jun; Fang, Yunting; Zheng, Junyu; Zhang, Gan

    Environmental science & technology, 11/2020, Volume: 54, Issue: 22
    Journal Article

    Nitrogen isotope (δ15N) monitoring is a potentially powerful tool in tracing atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx); however, the isotopic fingerprint of vehicle exhaust remains poorly interpreted. This deficiency limits our understanding of the origin of atmospheric haze pollution, especially in China. In this study, we systemically explored the δ15N-NOx fingerprints of various vehicle exhausts (n = 137) in China. The δ15N-NOx values of vehicle exhausts ranged from −18.8‰ to +6.4‰, presenting a significant correlation with NOx concentrations (p < 0.01). The highest δ15N-NOx values were observed for liquefied petroleum gas vehicles (−0.1 ± 1.8‰), followed by gasoline vehicles (−7.0 ± 4.8‰) and diesel vehicles (−12.7 ± 3.4‰), all of which displayed a rising trend as emissions standards were continuously updated. The δ15N-NOx values under working conditions followed the trend warm start (−5.9 ± 5.0‰) > driving (−7.3 ± 5.9‰) > cold start (−9.2 ± 2.7‰). By establishing a suitable model for assessing representative δ15N-NOx values, the δ15N-NOx values of various vehicles, including different fuel types with different emission standards, were evaluated. A model of δ15N-NOx associated with motor vehicle data was developed, which estimated the national δ15N-NOx value of vehicle emissions to be −12.6 ± 2.2‰, but there was considerable variation among different target areas in China.