HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures

HFC-23 (also known as CHF3 [CHF subscript 3], fluoroform or trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential (GWP) of 14 800 for a 100-year time horizon. It is an unavoidable by-product of HCFC-22 (CHClF2 [CHCIF subscript 2], chlorodifluoromethane) production. HCFC...

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Main Authors: Miller, Benjamin R., Rigby, Matthew, Kuijpers, L. J. M., Krummel, P. B., Steele, L. P., Leist, Michael, Fraser, P. J., McCulloch, A., Harth, C. M., Salameh, P., Muhle, Jens, Weiss, R. F., Wang, R. H. J., O'Doherty, Simon, Greally, B. R., Simmonds, P. G., Prinn, Ronald G
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: European Geosciences Union 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64775
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-3801
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author Miller, Benjamin R.
Rigby, Matthew
Kuijpers, L. J. M.
Krummel, P. B.
Steele, L. P.
Leist, Michael
Fraser, P. J.
McCulloch, A.
Harth, C. M.
Salameh, P.
Muhle, Jens
Weiss, R. F.
Wang, R. H. J.
O'Doherty, Simon
Greally, B. R.
Simmonds, P. G.
Prinn, Ronald G
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science
Miller, Benjamin R.
Rigby, Matthew
Kuijpers, L. J. M.
Krummel, P. B.
Steele, L. P.
Leist, Michael
Fraser, P. J.
McCulloch, A.
Harth, C. M.
Salameh, P.
Muhle, Jens
Weiss, R. F.
Wang, R. H. J.
O'Doherty, Simon
Greally, B. R.
Simmonds, P. G.
Prinn, Ronald G
author_sort Miller, Benjamin R.
collection MIT
description HFC-23 (also known as CHF3 [CHF subscript 3], fluoroform or trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential (GWP) of 14 800 for a 100-year time horizon. It is an unavoidable by-product of HCFC-22 (CHClF2 [CHCIF subscript 2], chlorodifluoromethane) production. HCFC-22, an ozone depleting substance (ODS), is used extensively in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, in the extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam industries (dispersive applications) and also as a feedstock in fluoropolymer manufacture (a non-dispersive use). Aside from small markets in specialty uses, HFC-23 has historically been considered a waste gas that was, and often still is, simply vented to the atmosphere. Efforts have been made in the past two decades to reduce HFC-23 emissions, including destruction (incineration) in facilities in developing countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and by process optimization and/or voluntary incineration by most producers in developed countries. We present observations of lower-tropospheric mole fractions of HFC-23 measured by "Medusa" GC/MSD instruments from ambient air sampled in situ at the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of five remote sites (2007–2009) and in Cape Grim air archive (CGAA) samples (1978–2009) from Tasmania, Australia. These observations are used with the AGAGE 2-D atmospheric 12-box model and an inverse method to produce model mole fractions and a "top-down" HFC-23 emission history. The model 2009 annual mean global lower-tropospheric background abundance is 22.6 (±0.2) pmol mol−1 [mol superscript -1]. The derived HFC-23 emissions show a "plateau" during 1997–2003, followed by a rapid ~50% increase to a peak of 15.0 (+1.3/−1.2) Gg/yr in 2006. Following this peak, emissions of HFC-23 declined rapidly to 8.6 (+0.9/−1.0) Gg/yr in 2009, the lowest annual emission of the past 15 years. We derive a 1990–2008 "bottom-up" HFC-23 emission history using data from the United Nations Environment Programme and the UNFCCC. Comparison with the top-down HFC-23 emission history shows agreement within the stated uncertainties. In the 1990s, HFC-23 emissions from developed countries dominated all other sources, then began to decline and eventually became fairly constant during 2003–2008. By this point, with developed countries' emissions essentially at a plateau, the major factor controlling the annual dynamics of global HFC-23 emissions became the historical rise of developing countries' HCFC-22 dispersive use production, which peaked in 2007. Thereafter in 2007–2009, incineration through CDM projects became a larger factor, reducing global HFC-23 emissions despite rapidly rising HCFC-22 feedstock production in developing countries.
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spelling mit-1721.1/647752024-05-15T04:11:02Z HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures Miller, Benjamin R. Rigby, Matthew Kuijpers, L. J. M. Krummel, P. B. Steele, L. P. Leist, Michael Fraser, P. J. McCulloch, A. Harth, C. M. Salameh, P. Muhle, Jens Weiss, R. F. Wang, R. H. J. O'Doherty, Simon Greally, B. R. Simmonds, P. G. Prinn, Ronald G Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Prinn, Ronald G. Rigby, Matthew Prinn, Ronald G. HFC-23 (also known as CHF3 [CHF subscript 3], fluoroform or trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential (GWP) of 14 800 for a 100-year time horizon. It is an unavoidable by-product of HCFC-22 (CHClF2 [CHCIF subscript 2], chlorodifluoromethane) production. HCFC-22, an ozone depleting substance (ODS), is used extensively in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, in the extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam industries (dispersive applications) and also as a feedstock in fluoropolymer manufacture (a non-dispersive use). Aside from small markets in specialty uses, HFC-23 has historically been considered a waste gas that was, and often still is, simply vented to the atmosphere. Efforts have been made in the past two decades to reduce HFC-23 emissions, including destruction (incineration) in facilities in developing countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and by process optimization and/or voluntary incineration by most producers in developed countries. We present observations of lower-tropospheric mole fractions of HFC-23 measured by "Medusa" GC/MSD instruments from ambient air sampled in situ at the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of five remote sites (2007–2009) and in Cape Grim air archive (CGAA) samples (1978–2009) from Tasmania, Australia. These observations are used with the AGAGE 2-D atmospheric 12-box model and an inverse method to produce model mole fractions and a "top-down" HFC-23 emission history. The model 2009 annual mean global lower-tropospheric background abundance is 22.6 (±0.2) pmol mol−1 [mol superscript -1]. The derived HFC-23 emissions show a "plateau" during 1997–2003, followed by a rapid ~50% increase to a peak of 15.0 (+1.3/−1.2) Gg/yr in 2006. Following this peak, emissions of HFC-23 declined rapidly to 8.6 (+0.9/−1.0) Gg/yr in 2009, the lowest annual emission of the past 15 years. We derive a 1990–2008 "bottom-up" HFC-23 emission history using data from the United Nations Environment Programme and the UNFCCC. Comparison with the top-down HFC-23 emission history shows agreement within the stated uncertainties. In the 1990s, HFC-23 emissions from developed countries dominated all other sources, then began to decline and eventually became fairly constant during 2003–2008. By this point, with developed countries' emissions essentially at a plateau, the major factor controlling the annual dynamics of global HFC-23 emissions became the historical rise of developing countries' HCFC-22 dispersive use production, which peaked in 2007. Thereafter in 2007–2009, incineration through CDM projects became a larger factor, reducing global HFC-23 emissions despite rapidly rising HCFC-22 feedstock production in developing countries. NASA Upper Atmospheric Research Program (Grant NNX07AE89G) NASA Upper Atmospheric Research Program (Grant NNX07AF09G) NASA Upper Atmospheric Research Program (Grant NNX07AE87G) 2011-07-08T17:16:25Z 2011-07-08T17:16:25Z 2010-08 2010-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1680-7316 1680-7324 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64775 Miller, B. R., Rigby, M., Kuijpers, L. J. M., Krummel, P. B., Steele, L. P., Leist, M., Fraser, P. J., McCulloch, A., Harth, C., Salameh, P., Mühle, J., Weiss, R. F., Prinn, R. G., Wang, R. H. J., O'Doherty, S., Greally, B. R., and Simmonds, P. G.: HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 7875-7890 © Author(s) 2010 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-3801 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-7875-2010 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 application/pdf European Geosciences Union Copernicus
spellingShingle Miller, Benjamin R.
Rigby, Matthew
Kuijpers, L. J. M.
Krummel, P. B.
Steele, L. P.
Leist, Michael
Fraser, P. J.
McCulloch, A.
Harth, C. M.
Salameh, P.
Muhle, Jens
Weiss, R. F.
Wang, R. H. J.
O'Doherty, Simon
Greally, B. R.
Simmonds, P. G.
Prinn, Ronald G
HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title_full HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title_fullStr HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title_full_unstemmed HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title_short HFC-23 (CHF3) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF2) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures
title_sort hfc 23 chf3 emission trend response to hcfc 22 chclf2 production and recent hfc 23 emission abatement measures
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64775
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-3801
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