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- Kukkonen, J., et al.
(author)
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Towards a Comprehensive Evaluation of the Environmental and Health Impacts of Shipping Emissions
- 2022
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In: Springer Proceedings in Complexity. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2213-8684 .- 2213-8692. ; , s. 329-336
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a new concept for marine research, applied in the EU-funded project EMERGE, “Evaluation, control and Mitigation of the EnviRonmental impacts of shippinG Emissions” (2020–2024; https://emerge-h2020.eu/ ). For the first time, both the various marine and atmospheric impacts of the shipping sector have been and will be comprehensively analyzed, using a concerted modelling and measurements framework. The experimental part of the project focuses on five European geographical case studies in different ecologically vulnerable regions, and a mobile onboard case study. The EMERGE consortium has also developed a harmonised and integrated modelling framework to assess the combined impacts of shipping emissions, both (i) on the marine ecosystems and (ii) the atmospheric environment. The first results include substantial refinements of a range of models to be applied, especially those for the STEAM and OpenDrift models. In particular, the STEAM (Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model) model has been extended to allow for the effects of atmospheric and oceanographic factors on the fuel consumption and emissions of the ships. The OpenDrift model has been improved to take into account the partitioning, degradation, and volatilization of pollutants in water. The predicted emission and discharge values have been used as input for both regional scale atmospheric dispersion models, such as WRF-CMAQ (Weather Research and Forecasting—Community Multiscale Air Quality Model) and SILAM (System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric composition), and water quality and circulation models, such as OpenDrift (Open source model for the drifting of substances in the ocean) and Delft3D (oceanographic model). The case study regions are Eastern Mediterranean, Northern Adriatic Sea, the Lagoon of Aveiro, the Solent Strait and the Öresund Strait. We have also conducted a substantial part of the experimental campaigns scheduled in the project. The final assessment will include the benefits and costs of control and mitigation options affecting water quality, air pollution exposure, health impacts, climate forcing, and ecotoxicological effects and bioaccumulation of pollutants in marine biota.
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2. |
- Beecken, Jörg, 1982, et al.
(author)
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Performance assessment of state-of-the-art and novel methods for remote compliance monitoring of sulfur emissions from shipping
- 2023
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In: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. - 1867-1381 .- 1867-8548. ; 16:23, s. 5883-5895
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The fuel sulfur content (FSC) of ocean-going and inland vessels was measured simultaneously by eight different state-of-the-art and novel monitoring systems during a 6-week campaign at the Elbe River, at a distance of about 10 km to the port of Hamburg, Germany. Both stationary and airborne systems on unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) were operated by four participating partners in a side-by-side measurement setup to measure the emission factors of the same emission sources. A novel laser spectrometer, with significantly better-precision specifications as compared with the other instruments, was used for the first time for emission monitoring regarding the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Annex VI regulations. The comparison took place in the North Sea sulfur emission control area (SECA), where the allowed FSC is limited to 0.10 %Sm/m. The unit %Sm/m relates to the percentage of mass sulfur per mass combusted fuel. In total, 966 plumes that originated from 436 different vessels were analysed in this study. At the same time, fuel samples obtained from 34 different vessels and bunker delivery notes (BDNs) from five frequently monitored vessels were used as a reference to assess the uncertainties of the different systems. Seven of the eight measurement systems tended to underestimate the FSC found from fuel samples and BDNs. A possible relation between underestimation and high relative humidities (above 80 %) was observed. The lowest systematic deviations were observed for the airborne systems and the novel laser spectrometer. The two UAV-borne systems showed total uncertainties of 0.07 %Sm/m and 0.09 %Sm/m (confidence level: 95 %). The novel laser spectrometer showed the lowest total uncertainty of 0.05 %Sm/m compared with other stationary sniffer systems, whose total uncertainties range from 0.08 %Sm/m to 0.09 %Sm/m. It was concluded that non-compliant vessels, with an actual FSC of the combusted fuel above 0.15 %Sm/m to 0.19 %Sm/m, can be detected by the compared systems with 95 % confidence.
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3. |
- Boikos, Christos, et al.
(author)
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Validating CFD modelling of ship plume dispersion in an urban environment with pollutant concentration measurements
- 2024
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In: Atmospheric Environment. - 1873-2844 .- 1352-2310. ; 319
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Air pollution in urban areas constitutes a global environmental problem, with shipping being one major contributor to hazardous pollutants in harbour areas. This work concerns the application of a method using CFD modelling to study how ships affect the air quality of port areas at a microscale level. A steady RANS-CFD approach was applied to simulate the dispersion of shipping-emitted pollutants, and a spatial sensitivity analysis of the CFD modelling results was conducted. The port of Marseille was used as a case study, and the CFD predictions were compared with on-site observations from two monitoring stations for CO2, CO, NOx, SO2 and PM concentrations. Representative modelled and measured concentrations were considered at the location of the monitoring stations to facilitate one-by-one comparisons for all pollutants in three different test cases of departing vessels. The modelling predictions presented an 8.2% (95% CI: -9.3%, 25.7%) average deviation from the measurements. Validation metrics were included to conduct a statistical comparison between predicted and measured concentrations, with almost all metric values indicating acceptable agreement between the CFD model and measurements. From a technical perspective, this study demonstrates the reliability of the applied CFD modelling method in estimating shipping plume dispersion, while from a societal perspective, this model can serve as an advisory tool for port authorities and policy makers to reduce the impact of shipping emissions on urban air quality.
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4. |
- Grigoriadis, A., et al.
(author)
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Particulate and Gaseous Emissions from a Large Two-Stroke Slow-Speed Marine Engine Equipped with Open-Loop Scrubber under Real Sailing Conditions
- 2024
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In: Atmosphere. - 2073-4433. ; 15:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Particulate and gaseous emissions were studied from a large two-stroke slow-speed diesel engine equipped with an open-loop scrubber, installed on a 78,200 metric tonnes (deadweight) containership, under real operation. This paper presents the on-board emission measurements conducted upstream and downstream of the scrubber with heavy fuel oil (HFO) and ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO). Particle emissions were examined under various dilution ratios and temperature conditions, and with two thermal treatment setups, involving a thermodenuder (TD) and a catalytic stripper (CS). Our results show a 75% SO2 reduction downstream of the scrubber with the HFO to emission-compliant levels, while the use of the ULSFO further decreased SO2 levels. The operation of the scrubber produced higher particle number levels compared to engine-out, attributed to the condensational growth of nanometer particle cores, salt and the formation of sulfuric acid particles in the smaller size range, induced by the scrubber. The use of a TD and a CS eliminates volatiles but can generate new particles when used in high-sulfur conditions. The results of this study contribute to the generally limited understanding of the particulate and gaseous emission performance of open-loop scrubbers in ships and could feed into emission and air quality models for estimating marine pollution impacts.
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5. |
- Hindelang, B, et al.
(author)
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Enabling precision monitoring of psoriasis treatment by optoacoustic mesoscopy
- 2022
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In: Science translational medicine. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 1946-6242 .- 1946-6234. ; 14:644, s. eabm8059-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Psoriasis is a widespread inflammatory skin disease affecting about 2% of the general population. Recently, treatments that specifically target key proinflammatory cytokines driving the disease have been developed to complement conventional therapies with unspecific antiproliferative or anti-inflammatory effects. Efficient monitoring of treatment efficacy in the context of precision medicine and the assessment of new therapeutics require accurate noninvasive readouts of disease progression. However, characterization of psoriasis treatment remains subjective based on visual and palpatory clinical assessment of features observed on the skin surface. We hypothesized that optoacoustic (photoacoustic) mesoscopy could offer label-free assessment of inflammation biomarkers, extracted from three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution images of the human skin, not attainable by other noninvasive methods. We developed a second-generation ultra-broadband optoacoustic mesoscopy system, featuring sub–10-μm resolution and advanced motion correction technology, and performed 80 longitudinal measurements of 20 psoriatic skin plaques in humans under conventional inpatient treatment or receiving biologics with concomitant topical corticosteroid treatment. Optoacoustic image analysis revealed inflammatory and morphological skin features that indicated treatment efficacy with sensitivity, accuracy, and precision that was not possible using clinical metrics. We identify 3D imaging biomarkers that reveal responses to treatment and offer the potential to facilitate disease and treatment characterization. Our findings suggest that optoacoustic mesoscopy may offer a method of choice for yielding both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of skin treatments that are inaccessible by other methods, potentially enabling optimized therapies and precision medicine in dermatology.
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