Effect of Ozone Concentrations from Local Emission Sources

Ground level ozone is one of six criteria air pollutants designated by US EPA.  It is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.

In this report, rigorous air quality simulation was performed to simulate the ozone formation of the Beaumont & Port Arthur, Texas (BPA) area. Simulation results match observed data from monitoring stations. Ozone source apportionment showed local emission sources contributed 20% of total ozone.  For the local contributions, point souces such as industrial facilities and electric utilities contributed 10% of total ozone, and on-road vehicles contributed 5%.  Matrix simulations and EKMA diagrams were also performed to show the effects of emission reductions of anthropogenic NOx and VOC sources.