Changes in factor profiles deriving from photochemical losses of volatile organic compounds: Insight from daytime and nighttime positive matrix factorization analyses

Abstract

Substantial effects of photochemical reaction losses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on factor profiles can be investigated by comparing the differences between daytime and nighttime dispersion-normalized VOC data resolved profiles. Hourly speciated VOC data measured in Shijiazhuang, China from May to September 2021 were used to conduct study. The mean VOC concentration in the daytime and at nighttime were 32.8 and 36.0 ppbv, respectively. Alkanes and aromatics concentrations in the daytime (12.9 and 3.08 ppbv) were lower than nighttime (15.5 and 3.63 ppbv), whereas that of alkenes showed the opposite tendency. The concentration differences between daytime and nighttime for alkynes and halogenated hydrocarbons were uniformly small. The reactivities of the dominant species in factor profiles for gasoline emissions, natural gas and diesel vehicles, and liquefied petroleum gas were relatively low and their profiles were less affected by photochemical losses. Photochemical losses produced a substantial impact on the profiles of solvent use, petrochemical industry emissions, combustion sources, and biogenic emissions where the dominant species in these factor profiles had high reactivities. Although the profile of biogenic emissions was substantially affected by photochemical loss of isoprene, the low emissions at nighttime also had an important impact on its profile. Chemical losses of highly active VOC species substantially reduced their concentrations in apportioned factor profiles. This study results were consistent with the analytical results obtained through initial concentration estimation, suggesting that the initial concentration estimation could be the most effective currently available method for the source analyses of active VOCs although with uncertainty.