Location and characterization of emission sources for airborne volatile organic compounds inside a refinery in Taiwan

This study aimed to locate VOC emission sources and characterized their emitted VOCs. To avoid interferences from vehicle exhaust, all sampling sites were positioned inside the refinery. Samples, taken with canisters, were analyzed by GC-MS according to TO-14 method. The survey period extended from Febrary 2004 to December 2004, sampling twice per season. To interpret a large number of VOC data was a rather difficult task. This study featured using ordinary application software, Excel and Surfer, instead of expensive one like GIS, to overcome it. Consolidating data into a database on Excel facilitated retrieval, statistical analysis and presentation in the form of either table or graph. The cross analysis of the data suggested that the abundant VOCs were alkanes, alkenes, aromatics and cyclic HCs. Emission sources were located by mapping the concentration distribution of these four types of VOCs in terms of contour maps on Surfer. During eight surveys, five emission sources were located and their VOCs were characterized.