Emission factors and source profiles of volatile organic compounds in container manufacturing industry

The container manufacturing industry is the key contributor of industrial volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emission factors (EFs) and source profiles of container manufacturing industry were comprehensively investigated basing on multiple VOCs discharge links. 17 samples were collected from a typical container manufacturing enterprise based on field measurements. The material balance method and weighted average method were applied to estimate EFs and establish VOCs source profiles. It is found that diluent use (DU) was the largest contributor (39.96 %), followed by intermediate painting spaying (IMPS), primer painting (PP), chassis painting (CP), exterior paint spaying (EPS), and interior paint spaying (IPS). EF of the container manufacturing industry (2.90 kg VOCs/ Twenty -foot Equivalent Units, TEU) was firstly estimated. EFs of six processes were further estimated. The EFs of DU, IMPS, PP, CP, EPS, and IPS were 1.22, 0.74, 0.42, 0.33, 0.20, and 0.00045 kg VOCs/TEU, respectively. EFs of six materials were further estimated. The EF of the diluent was largest (382.74 kg VOCs/t material), followed by water -based epoxy intermediate paint (132.09 kg VOCs/t material), organic -based epoxy zinc -rich priming paint (91.31 kg VOCs/t material). EFs of other paints ranged from 0.0047 to 43.01 kg VOCs/t material. These results suggest that the replacement of lower- VOCs- contained diluent and effective control from diluent consumption are dramatically conducive to VOCs reduction. Source profiles were established at the industry and individual process levels. Aromatics (77.05-98.38 %) were dominant components in all processes, followed by alkane and OVOCs. m/p-Xylene, o-xylene, and ethylbenzene were the key active species that should be prioritized for control. Overall, EFs and source profiles of the container manufacturing industry were firstly proposed, conducing to the systematic formulation of VOCs control strategies.