A Case-Study for the Investigation of Inland Ship Emissions in Real World Plume Dilution at the Rhine River in Duesseldorf, Germany

In this case-study we used several measurement techniques to measure and investigate single exhaust plumes from ships passing by with a measurement truck standing on a plateau on the northern banks of the Rhine river near to the city of Duesseldorf, North-Rhine-Westphalia. We used a combination of an optical particle counter and a scanning mobility particle sizer to analyze the particle spectra in a size range from 5 nm up to 32 µm. Moreover, we used an aethalometer to investigate the proportion of soot in the particle spectra. Additionally, gaseous combustion species like nitrogen- and sulphur dioxid were measured. The data show a specific pollution characteristic for an individual ship. It could be found that the proportion of the pollutants in the exhaust plume vary for each ship. This effect is more dominated due to the engine load under which the ships are currently running than the type of ship or motor power