AIR QUALITY AND HEALTH IMPACT OF PRIMARY SEMI-VOLATILE AND SECONDARY PARTICLES AND THEIR ABATEMENT

Project Information

AEROSOLS

Grant agreement ID: 101096912

DOI

10.3030/101096912

EC signature date 26 September 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2026

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 1 845 291,75

EU contribution

€ 1 845 291,75

Coordinated by

"NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS"""
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AEROSOLS (AIR QUALITY AND HEALTH IMPACT OF PRIMARY SEMI-VOLATILE AND SECONDARY PARTICLES AND THEIR ABATEMENT)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Fine particle emissions from transport and the formation of secondary aerosols significantly impact the environment and public health, yet the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood.
The complex organic fraction of particle emissions from transport can derive from thousands of hydrocarbons (HCs) in fuels and engine lubricating oils. The presence of some heavier HCs called intermediate-/semi-volatile organic compounds (I/SVOC) can result in uncertainty in physico-chemical characterisation of particle emissions when using conventional methodologies. Examples of associated challenges are:
• Uncertainty in I/SVOC and secondary aerosols characterisation and artefacts;
• Variability induced by driving and climate conditions;
• Contribution of I/SVOC to total emissions, and interactions with inorganic compounds;
• Quantification of climate, air quality, and health/social impacts;
• Effective and sustainable I/SVOC abatement mechanisms;
• Compatibility with current emission legislations.
The AEROSOLS project aims to define robust and transparent measurement and modelling methodologies to quantify the currently disregarded I/SVOC primary and secondary emissions, assess their associated risks/impacts, and propose technological and legislative monitoring/abating mechanisms to help improve air quality and public health. To achieve this, the main objectives of the AEROSOLS project are:
1. Physico-chemical characterisation of primary volatile/semi-volatile emissions formation, abatement, and dynamics under vehicle real-driving-emissions (RDE) testing conditions on the road and in labs;
2. Physico-chemical characterisation of secondary aerosol formation and atmospheric evolution mechanisms to provide scientific evidence of the role of primary emissions in their formation;
3. Taxonomisation and prioritisation (assisted by Artificial Intelligence) of primary and secondary emissions according to their health, social, air quality, and climate impacts;
4. Development of robust measurement, analysis, and modelling methods for improved quantification of transport ‘total’ externalities (emissions), including disregarded volatile/semi-volatile and emergent emissions;
5. Proposal of technological and legislative monitoring/abating mechanisms to support future legislations/policies on emissions, “polluter pays”, and preventing smog episodes.
AEROSOLS disseminates the advocacy information to the stake-holders and policy-makers to assist the transition to a cleaner and climate-neutral society/economy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In this reporting period, progress has been made mainly in developing protocols/setups and conducting studies in line with the objectives of the AEROSOLS project. All project deliverables and milestones for this reporting period have been achieved. The main activities/achievements include:
• Conducted a comprehensive literature review, data compilation, and analysis focusing on I/SVOC primary emissions, secondary emissions, and health impacts, to also help inform/tailor studies within the AEROSOLS project;
• Performed gasoline and diesel engine- and vehicle-level experiments, with the latter both in the chassis dynamometer labs and on the road, quantifying primary unregulated inorganic and organic emissions (e.g. volatile compounds and I/SVOC) in gas and particle phases, also acting as secondary emissions precursors, utilising advanced instruments (some developed by the project consortium partners) – work is ongoing;
• Studied the impact of exhaust aftertreatment systems on the properties of the engine-emitted volatile compounds and I/SVOC in gas and particle phases – work is ongoing;
• Worked on identifying and mitigating the sources of variability in the measurement of I/SVOC in gas and particle phases – work is ongoing;
• Started to work on the secondary aerosol formation and atmospheric evolution mechanisms, e.g. commissioned three different aerosol ageing setups (two were newly developed by the consortium partners);
• Started to work on the health impact of I/SVOC emissions, with the study of selected I/SVOC completed;
• Started to work on the taxonomisation and prioritisation of I/SVOC emissions through developing/utilising AI / Machine Learning (ML) platforms;
• Continuously disseminated technical/scientific project information and outputs to a diverse body of relevant stakeholders.
The consortium will continue to perform timely and tailored studies, and monitor their progress and results against the project objectives and the latest developments within the relevant research areas.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

As an ongoing effort, the scientific results (beyond the state of the art) and impact of the project during the current reporting period have been monitored, primarily targeting new breakthrough scientific discoveries in currently unregulated emissions formation, evolution, and abatement; emissions air quality, climate, and human health impacts; emissions measurement systems and methods. Examples of the scientific progress, also heavily informed by the latest literature, are as follows:
• Characterisation of a wide volatility range of volatile and I/SVOC emissions (from carbon number 1 (C1) to ~C40) from the same source thanks to combining measurements and samplings utilising Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), compact Proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (compact-PTR-ToF-MS), and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with ToF-MS (GC×GC-ToF-MS);
• Onboard vehicle emissions (RDE) measurement with the compact-PTR-ToF-MS, developed by an industrial consortium partner, and an advanced portable emissions measurement system featuring FTIR and particle number quantification with 10 and 23 nm cut-off;
• Enhancement of 1-12 nm particles measurement from the engine exhaust (fresh and aged) thanks to the developments in the particle size magnifier (PSM) technology by an industrial consortium partner;
• Work towards volatile and I/SVOC emissions measurement under transient engine and exhaust aftertreatment operation using bespoke testing setups and protocols;
• Work towards health impact prediction, and holistic taxonomisation and prioritisation of volatile and I/SVOC emissions and secondary aerosols (SA) developing/utilising AI/ML.
Furthermore, the project’s economic/technological progress, e.g. two new instruments by EU companies, as well as societal/environmental progress, e.g. health/social impact of air pollution, offering technologies to monitor unregulated emissions towards regulatory frameworks, have been monitored.