Stable Carbon Isotope of Black Carbon from Typical Emission Sources in China
典型排放源黑碳的稳定碳同位素组成研究

Smoke particles from the three typical BC emission sources (biomass burning, household coal combustion, and vehicular exhaust) were collected and analyzed for stable carbon isotopes (delta13C) of black carbon (BC), total carbon (TC), as well as the original fuels. The results show that corn stalk (a typical C4 plant, -13.62 per thousand) has the highest delta13C(BC) value, and the average values for C3 plants, bituminous coals, and vehicle exhaust are -26.49 per thousand +/- 1.17 per thousand, -23.46 per thousand +/- 0.37 per thousand, and -25.17 per thousand +/- 0.40 per thousand, respectively. delta13C(BC) values from the three sources are similar to the corresponding fuels, and the ranges of these values are different from each other. Carbon fractionation occurs during the process of BC formation. delta13C(BC) for C4 plant (corn stalk) is lower than that of the fuel by 1.62 per thousand, while the values for C3 plants and coals are higher than that of the fuels by 0.63 per thousand and 0.52 per thousand, respectively. CTO-375 method, which is used to extract BC from TC, affects the stable carbon isotope of smokes from biomass burning to some extent (the difference between delta13C(BC) and delta13C(TC) is nearly 0.50 per thousand), but has little effect on fossil fuel smokes. This delta13C database for typical emission sources provides scientific information on BC source apportionment.