Effects of methanol-fueled vehicles on urban ozone levels

Conference · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Preprints of Papers Presented at National Meeting, Division of Water, Air and Waste Chemistry, American Chemical Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:7166181

Chang, T Y; Kuntasal, G; Gorse, Jr, R A ^[1]

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1. Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, MI (USA)

The use of methanol as a motor vehicle fuel has been suggested for some years because of possible environmental as well as energy and economic benefits. A number of smog chamber and photochemical modeling studies have been carried out previously to address the issue of the air quality impact arising from a large scale conversion to methanol fueled vehicles. These earlier studies all conclude that, with respect to O{sub 3} formation, conversion to methanol fuel could be beneficial, provided that formaldehyde co-emissions are kept sufficiently low. However, the quantitative understanding of the impact of methanol fueled vehicles on O{sub 3} levels is far from being resolved because of numerous complexities. In light of the far-reaching energy and economic aspects of conversion to methanol fuel, a better understanding of the air quality benefit resulting from conversion to methanol fuel is critical. In the present work, previous studies are summarized first, and additional, updated photochemical computations are performed in a number of urban areas where recent nonmethane organic compounds (NMOC) data are available. Approximate, per-car O{sub 3}-forming potential of methanol vehicle emissions are reevaluated, and projected impact of methanol vehicles on future O{sub 3} levels in urban areas is evaluated.

• OSTI ID: 7166181
• Report Number(s): CONF-8909232--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Preprints of Papers Presented at National Meeting, Division of Water, Air and Waste Chemistry, American Chemical Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 28:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR QUALITY
ALCOHOL FUELS
ALDEHYDES
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
AUTOMOTIVE FUELS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FORMALDEHYDE
FUELS
METHANOL FUELS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OZONE
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
URBAN AREAS