Nov 27 2009
Samantha Lawrence has conducted a research, which projected the necessity to establish a law with reference to non-exhaust emissions from tires, brakes and road surface wear. This 27 year old doctor completed her thesis titled: Tunnel Measurements and Source Apportionment Modelling to Quantify Atmospheric Particle Emissions from Non-Exhaust Sources, under the guidance of Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal, Dr. Hongjun Mao and Professor Ranjeet Sokhi at the Center of Atmospheric and Instrumentation Research.
The PhD award was presented to Samantha Lawrence at the graduation ceremony of the University of Hertfordshire, at St. Alban’s Cathedral. Linde AG and NERC have funded this research.
The Institution of Environmental Sciences 2008 John Rose Award was also received by Samantha Lawrence, who is now working for Defra. As part of this research Samantha Lawrence inserted a sequence of sample particles into the Hatfield Tunnel, and the non-exhaust emissions were identified and examined by the usage of receptor modeling techniques, and the result was collected in the form of data. This research highlighted that more than half of the airborne particulate matter linked to many health issues and consisting of an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10pm (also known as PM10) was tested inside the Hatfield Tunnel.
The total mass of PM10 in the tunnel amounted to 82 percent and sources that contributed to this total include: 11% of road surface wear and brake wear emissions, 27% of resuspension, 21% of diesel exhaust emissions, 18% of unexplained sources and 12% of petrol exhaust emissions. With reference to these emissions Samantha Lawrence has stated that these emissions cannot be controlled at present due to the availability of limited information.
Source: http://www.herts.ac.uk/