Stable hydrogen isotope composition of n-alkanes in urban atmospheric aerosols in Taiyuan, China

Abstract

The hydrogen isotope compositions (δD) of n-alkanes associated with particulate matter with a diameter of ≤10 μm from Taiyuan, China, during heating and non-heating periods were measured via gas chromatography–isotope ratio mass spectrometry to reveal the spatial and temporal characteristics of five functional zones and to provide another constraint on atmospheric pollutants. The δD values of n-C16 to n-C31 during the heating and non-heating periods ranged from −235.9‰ to −119.8‰ and from −231.3‰ to −129.2‰, respectively, but these similar spans had different distribution features. During the heating period, the δD distributions between non–central heating and commercial districts were consistent, as were those between residential and industrial districts; the n-alkanes came from two or more types of emission sources. Coal soot might be the primary local emission source, but not the only source. During the non-heating period, the n-alkanes of n-C16 to n-C20 were more depleted in D with the increasing carbon number in all functional zones, but there was no rule for n-C21 to n-C31. Specifically, coal soot and vehicle exhaust might be the primary sources of n-alkanes for non–central heating districts in the heating and non-heating periods, respectively, according to the δD distribution of n-C18 to n-C22; gasoline vehicle exhaust might be an n-alkane source, and the hydrogen isotope fractionation effect during the condensation process should be a pollution mechanism for the commercial district during the heating period; the δD distribution difference of n-C16 to n-C18 between the two periods in the residential and industrial districts was consistent, which indicates a similar source of fossil fuel combustion and a similar isotope fractionation effect during the non-heating period.