Source identification and apportionment of fine particulate matter in Houston, Texas by receptor modeling

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dc.contributor.advisorFraser, Matthew P.en_US
dc.creatorBuzcu, Birnuren_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T07:57:26Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-04T07:57:26Zen_US
dc.date.issued2003en_US
dc.description.abstractSamples of atmospheric particles were analyzed for organic and elemental analysis at three sites in Houston, TX. Samples for the quantification of individual organic compounds were collected during August 2000--September 2000 and analyzed for molecular speciation. A chemical mass balance (CMB) model was applied to the organic speciation data to estimate the contributions of the eight possible sources to the fine particulate matter mass in Houston. Major contributors to PM2.5 included gasoline vehicles, diesel vehicles, meat cooking and wood combustion with smaller contributions from vegetative detritus. It was found that PM2.5 mass was also dominated by other organics and secondary sulfate. Samples for airborne metal analysis were collected and analyzed by two different chemical analysis methods; Inductively Coupled-Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the elemental concentration data for source identification and apportionment. PMF resolved five physically interpretable factors at each site of which four were found to be common at all sites: crustal material, road dust, wood burning, and sea salt. The composition of the remaining factor was similar, but not identical at the three sites and had an elemental composition similar to industrial combustion. Crustal material is the most important contributor at each site.en_US
dc.format.extent102 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS C.E. 2003 BUZCUen_US
dc.identifier.citationBuzcu, Birnur. "Source identification and apportionment of fine particulate matter in Houston, Texas by receptor modeling." (2003) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17575">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17575</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/17575en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental engineeringen_US
dc.titleSource identification and apportionment of fine particulate matter in Houston, Texas by receptor modelingen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentChemical and Biomolecular Engineeringen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineeringen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US
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