Uncovering the characteristics of air pollutants emission in industrial parks and analyzing emission reduction potential: case studies in Henan, China

Industrial parks contribute greatly to China’s economic development while emitting huge air pollutants. It is necessary to study the characteristics of air pollutant emissions in industrial parks. In this study, emission inventories for 11 industrial parks were established. Meanwhile, the source emission and spatial distribution characteristics of the industrial park were analyzed. The cluster analysis was used to classify these parks into “4Hs”, “Mixed” and “4Ls” parks. “4Hs”, “Mixed” and “4Ls” represent that the levels of energy intensity, economic proportion of energy-intensive industries, coal proportion and pollution performance value are high, medium and low in turn. Then three emission reduction measures were set up to estimate the emission reduction potential and environmental impacts. The results show that: (1) the emissions of SO(2), NO(x), CO, PM(10), PM(2.5), VOCs and NH(3) of 11 industrial parks in 2017 were 11.2, 23.1, 30.8, 8.3, 3.5, 5.1, and 1.1 kt, respectively. (2) Power plants were the largest source of SO(2) and NO(x) emissions, and industrial processes were the largest emission source of CO, PM(10), PM(2.5), VOCs and NH(3). (3) “4Hs” parks with traditional energy-intensive industries as the leading industries should be the emphasis of air pollutant emission reduction. (4) Through the optimal emission reduction measures, SO(2), NO(x), PM(10), PM(2.5) and VOCs were reduced by 81, 46, 51, 46 and 77%, respectively. Environmental impact reductions include 1.6 kt SO(2)eq acidified gas emissions, 1.4 kt PO(4)(3−)eq eutrophication substances, 4.2 kt PM(10)eq atmospheric particulate emissions, 7.0 kt 1,4-DCEeq human toxic substances, and 5.2 kt PM(2.5) eq breathing Inorganic. This study is helpful to understand the characteristics of air pollutants emissions in industrial parks and promotes the proposal and implementation of air pollutant emissions reduction strategies.