• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.56-75
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• 2018

Korean Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS) have been established since the late 2001 to monitor ambient air concentrations of VOC species, which would enhance understanding photo-chemical formation of ozone and subsequently contribute to developing efficient ozone control strategies. The present study aims at identifying major VOC species and examining their trends by analyzing PAMS monitoring data collected from the year 2006 to 2016. All the 18 PAMS sites operated by the Ministry of Environment were included in the study. PAMS monitored the 56 target VOC species, which are classified into four groups, alkenes, lower alkanes ($C{\leq}3$), higher alkanes ($C{\geq}4$), aromatics. The higher alkanes and aromatics dominated over the lower alkanes and alkenes in the type 2 and 3 PAMS sites except Joongheung site. N-butane was a major alkane species, toluene was a major aromatic species and most of VOCs showed decreasing trends in these sites. On the other hand, only the alkenes showed decreasing trends at the Joongheung site in Yeosu. Major sources of abundant species such as ethane, propane, n-butane, toluene were estimated by analyzing seasonal variations, correlation with other VOC species, and emission profiles. A major source of n-butane was identified as LPG cars, while major sources of toluene varied considerably from one site to another. The lower alkanes were composed of ethane and propane, both of which showed a strong seasonal variation, low in the summer and high in the winter, indicating that a major source might be the heating by gaseous fuels. Ozone formation potentials of VOC species were evaluated by applying MIR and POCP to the measured VOC species concentrations. Toluene contributed the most to total ozone forming potentials followed by m,p-xylene for all the type 2 and 3 PAMS sites except for two sites in Yeosu-Gwangyang. Ethylene and propylene were the first and second contributors to total ozone forming potentials at Joongheung site in Yeosu.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.538-544
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• 2014

A traditional fireplace has been used, but not much, for heating and cooking in rural area, Korea. Traditional fireplace as one type of biomass burnings is also emitting various air pollutants. Air pollutants emission from traditional fireplace was estimated in this study. There are two types of traditional fireplace, one for combined heating and cooking, the other one for cooking only. Types of fuels mostly used in traditional fireplace were wood, agricultural residue, solid waste. Activity levels such as fuel types, amount of fuel loading, and temporal variation were investigated by field survey over Korea. Estimated annual emissions from traditional fireplace were CO 6,335.0, NOx 555.0, SOx 9.6, VOC 1,771.7, TSP 181.4, $PM_{10}$ 119.9, $PM_{2.5}$ 96.2, $NH_3$ 1.4 ton/yr respectively. When emissions compared with the national emission inventory (CAPSS: Clean Air Policy Support System) of 2010 year, CO and $PM_{10}$ occupy 0.8% and 0.1% of total national emission, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 2003

This study has been conducted to identify and quantify the emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from a new carpet. The carpet sample consists of polypropylene cushion and latex backing. The VOCs have been sampled on sorbent tubes and analyzed by thermal desorption unit and GC/MSD. For over 240 hours, concentration of VOCs has been measured in a small chamber made of stainless steel. With the measured data, emission factor and mass balance have been considered. The experiments have been conducted in accordance with ASTM D5116-97. The carpet has emitted a variety of VOCs, but in this study, 7 VOCs compounds have been considered： chlorobenzene, ethylbenzene, styrene, isopropylbenzene, bromobenzene, 2-chlorotoluene, and 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene. The results show that the concentrations of VOCs and the emission factors have exponentially decayed from relatively high level to low level with time. The gradients of the concentration of VOCs and emission factors are different for various components. It is found that styrene, 2-chlorotoluene are emitted more than others with higher concentrations.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.410-415
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• 2004

In order to learn the emission characteristics of hazardous pollutants associated with environmental tobacco smoking (ETS), we measured the concentrations of major aromatic VOC and carbonyl compounds released from ETS. By acquiring the different smoke types of ETS, we were able to determine that the concentrations of those species range from ppb (normal exhaled air of smoker prior to smoking) to ppm levels (direct release of ETS without filter). Using these measurement data, we also evaluated the body-retaining rate of these compounds as the result of ETS. The results of our analysis indicated that predominant portion of them (e.g., > 99%) are retained as the result of cigarette smoking. To learn more about the potential impact of ETS, more extensive study may be required to assess the gross picture of pollutant deposition inside respiratory intake and their health-effects.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.113-126
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• 2002

This study was carried out to evaluate the temporal (daily, weekly, and seasonal) variations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations at a road-side site in a heavy-traffic central area of Metropolitan Taegu. Ambient air sampling was undertaken continuously for 14 consecutive days in each of four seasons from the spring of 1999 to the winter of 2000. The VOC samples were collected using adsorbent tubes, and were determined by thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS analysis. A total of 10 aromatic VOCs of environmental concern were determined, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m＋p-xylenes, styrene, o-xylene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and naphthalene. Among 10 target VOCs, the most abundant compounds appeared to be toluene (1.5 ∼ 102 ppb) and xylenes (0.1 ∼ 114 ppb), while benzene levels were in the range of 0.3 ∼6 ppb. It was found that the general trends of VOC levels were significantly dependent on traffic conditions at the sampling site since VOC concentrations were at their maximum during rush hours (AM 7∼9 and PM 7 ∼9). However, some VOCs such as toluene, xylenes, and ethylbenzene were likely to be affected by a number of unknown sources other than vehicle exhaust, being attributed to the use of paints, and/or the evaporation of solvents used nearby the sampling site. In some instances, extremely high concentrations were found for these compounds, which can not be explained solely by the impact of vehicle exhaust. The results of this study may be useful for estimating the relative importance of different emission sources in large urban areas. Finally, it was suggested that the median value might be more desirable than the arithmetic mean as a representative value for the VOC data group, since the cumulative probability distribution (n=658) does not follow the normal distribution pattern.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.169-176
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• 2013

The present study was designed to examine the concentrations, emission rates, and source characteristics of a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in 30 newly-constructed apartment buildings by measuring indoor and outdoor VOC concentrations over a 2-year period. For comparison, seven villa-type houses were also surveyed for indoor and outdoor VOC concentrations over a 3-month period. Indoor and outdoor air samples were collected on Tenax-TA adsorbent and analyzed using a gas chromatograph (GC)/mass spectrometer system or a GC/flame ionization detector system coupled to a thermal desorption system. The long-term change in indoor VOC concentrations depended on the type of VOCs. Generally, aromatic (except for naphthalene), aliphatic, and terpene compounds exhibited a gradual deceasing trend over the 2-year follow-up period. However, the indoor concentrations of the six halogenated VOCs did not significantly vary with time changes. Similar to these halogenated VOCs, the indoor naphthalene concentrations did not vary significantly with time changes over the 2-year period. Unlike the halogenated VOCs, the indoor naphthalene concentrations were much higher than the outdoor concentrations. The indoor concentrations of aliphatic and aromatic compounds were higher for the villa-type houses when compared to those of apartment buildings. In addition, four source groups (floor coverings and interior painting, household products, wood paneling and furniture, moth repellents) and three source groups (floor coverings and interior painting, household products, and moth repellents) were considered as potential VOC sources inside apartment buildings for the first- and second-year post-occupancy stages, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.7 no.2 s.19
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• pp.7-13
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• 2003

Abstract This paper presents new emission mechanism and emission estimation model in volatile organic compounds(VOCs) emission sources. Also classifies applicable emission reduction techniques and presents new economical evaluation method for each techniques. We ultimately developed VEER(VOCs Emission Estimation and Reduction) software, which is backed by above mentioned model, emission source DB, Chemical properties DB, meteorological DB, and emission factor DB. With VEER, users in enterprise, central government and local self-governing body can get reliable emission results easily, and choose suitable emission reduction techniques.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.401-411
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• 2005

This study was conducted to develop a method to be able to estimate the vehicular emissions according to spatial scales-Seoul province, 25 counties and hundreds of grids $(1km{\times}1km)$. First, the emissions at each spatial scale was calculated by using the road network and the travel volume and speed of each link modeled by travel demand model (TDM). Second, the emission at each spatial scale was calculated on the basis of average speeds estimated by using three kinds of averaging method. These are called the provincial, volume-delay function (VDF) and zonal method, respectively. Third, three kinds of emissions and those by TDM are compared each other at three spatial scales. In Seoul (provincial scale), three kinds of emissions are less than those by TDM, but the differences of TDM from three speed averaging methods (SAMs) are small. The relative ratios of three SAMs to TDM are $88\~90\%\;in\;CO,\;99\~100\%\;in\;NOx,\;84\~85\%$ in VOCs. At county scale, NOx among three pollutants showed the highest correlation between TDM and three SAMs and the zonal method among three SAMs was proven to be the highest correlation with TDM. NOx showed the coefficients $(R^2)$ greater than 0.9 in all three SAMs but CO and VOC showed the coefficients $(R^2)$ greater than 0.9 in only zonal method. Slopes of co..elations of all pollutants showed the values close to '1' in zonal method. In the other two SAMs, slopes of NOx showed the values close to '1', but those of CO and VOC showed the values less than 0.85. At grid scale, correlations between TDM and three SAMs were not high. CO showed $0.68\~0.77\;in\;R^2s\;and\;58\~0.68$ in slopes. NOx showed $0.90\~0.94\;in\;R^2s\;and\;0.86\~0.94$ in slopes. VOC showed $0.56\~0.70\;in\;R^2s\;and\;0.48\~0.57$ in slopes. There are not high correlations between TDM and three SAMs in grid scale. This study showed that there is the most suitable method for calculating the average travel speed at each spatial scale and it is thought that the zonal method is more suitable than the VDF or provincial method.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2016

In previous study, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission characteristics were highly affected by coating materials for wood finishing. Natural based coating materials showed that about 15~46% lower TVOC emission than typical products. In this study, long-term changes of VOCs emission characteristics from pine panel with three types of coating treatments were determined. Non-treated pine panel emitted $604.7{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$ of TVOC that contained 66% of NVOC ($399.7{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$) at 0 month. After 10 month, TVOC reduced 88% and 93% reduction on NVOC was observed. Natural oil and waterborne stain treated pine panel showed 61% and 77% lower TVOC, respectively, than non-treated pine panel. However, TVOC from finished pine panels showed higher TVOC emission than non-treated pine panel. All samples satisfied the VOC emission regulation (below $4,000{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$) by Korean Ministry of Environment. Toluene emission regulation (below $80{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$) was passed on all sample without varnish treated pine panel at 0 month. According to HB qualification standard for construction materials by Korea Air Cleaning Association (KACA), wood is not qualified to get the best tag due to high TVOC emission. At the 10 months, only non-treated pine panel could get the best tag of HB from KACA.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1149-1162
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• 2012

The impact of a considerable increase in traffic volume on the emission and concentrations of air pollutants was investigated at three beaches (Haeundae (HB), Gwanganri (GB), and Songjeong (SB)) in Busan during beach opening period (BOP) in 2011. During the BOP, passenger car was the major vehicle type, followed by taxi, and van. CO was the major contributor of total air pollutant emissions followed by NOx, VOC, and $PM_{10}$. For the temporal variation of the emission of air pollutants during the BOP, it was generally the highest in the afternoon followed by the evening and morning, except for SB. For the spatial variation of their emission, it was the highest at GB followed by SB and HB. The emissions of air pollutants during the BOP were generally higher than those during the Non-BOP, except for HB. In contrast, the significant impact of the traffic volume increase on the concentrations of air pollutants at monitoring sites near the three beaches during the BOP were not found compared to the Non-BOP due to the significant distances between monitoring sites of air pollutants and monitoring sites of traffic volume at the beaches.