Typical industrial sector-based volatile organic compounds source profiles and ozone formation potentials in Zhengzhou, China

Abstract Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from local industries can cause PM2.5 and ozone pollution. The VOCs source profiles of 14 industries were set up on the basis of on-site sampling in this work. The sectors were divided into four following groups according to their largest fraction of emission component: oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), aromatic, alkane, and halohydrocarbon emissions. The main species for OVOCs, alkane, and halohydrocarbon emissions were ethanol and ethyl acetate, C5–C12 substances, and 1,2-dichloroethane and trichloromethane, respectively. In terms of aromatic emissions, complex and various species were emitted. A comparison of the automobile and furniture manufacturing sectors with other regions indicated that some similarities exist in aromatic emissions. However, Zhengzhou City had a remarkably lower toluene emission than do other areas, and some special species were also detected in the locality. The ozone formation potential (OFP) profiles were also set up through the VOCs source profiles and maximum incremental reactivity (MIR) theory, which illustrated that the automobile manufacturing sector had the largest influence on ozone formation owing to increased furniture manufacturing (3.41), followed by aromatic emissions (2.94). Aromatics and OVOCs from similar sources had a significant effect on the OFP values. In general, the main influential species in Zhengzhou are ethanol, 2-hexanone, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenze, m/p-xylene, o-xylene, and toluene for VOCs and ozone pollution.