Aerosol nucleation in coal-fired power-plant plumes

Abstract

New-particle nucleation within coal-fired power-plant plumes can have large effects on particle number concentrations, particularly near source regions, with implications for human health and climate. In order to resolve the formation and growth of particles in these plumes, we have integrated TwO-Moment Aerosol Sectional (TOMAS) microphysics in the System for Atmospheric Modelling (SAM), a large-eddy simulation/cloud-resolving model (LES/CRM). We have evaluated this model against aircraft observations for three case studies, and the model reproduces well the major features of each case. Using this model, we have shown that meteorology and background aerosol concentrations can have strong effects on new-particle formation and growth in coal-fired power-plant plumes, even if emissions are held constant. We subsequently used the model to evaluate the effects of SO2 and NOx pollution controls on newparticle formation in coal-fired power-plant plumes. We found that strong reductions in NOx emissions without concurrent reductions in SO 2 emissions may increase new-particle formation, due to increases in OH formation within the plume. We predicted the change in new-particle formation due to changes in emissions between 1997 and 2010 for 330 coal-fired power plants in the US, and we found a median decrease of 19% in new-particle formation. However, the magnitude and sign of the aerosol changes depend greatly on the relative reductions in NOx and SO2 emissions in each plant. More extensive plume measurements for a range of emissions of SO2 and NOx and in varying background aerosol conditions are needed, however, to better quantify these effects. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.