The Effect of Building Fan Operation on Indoor-Outdoor Dust Relationships

As part of an energy conservation program recently implemented by the Bell System, fans in many telephone equipment buildings now operate only when necessary to bring the temperature within allowable limits, rather than continuously. In the study reported here the effects of fan operation on indoor-outdoor dust relationships were monitored at 2 representative telephone offices. Automatic dichotomous samplers were used to collect fine and coarse aerosol particles inside telephone equipment buildings at Wichita, KS and Lubbock, TX. At both sites, outdoor samples (roof top) were collected at the same time as the indoor samples. During the tests the building fans were repetitively cycled between 2-week intervals of continuous fan operation and 2-week intervals of intermittent fan operation. The indoor dust concentrations typically increased when the fans were off. The results indicate that this increase was due to loss of constant filtration, but not due to loss of building pressurlzation (i.e., filtration of the recirculated air is largely responsible for the lower dust levels when the fans are running continuously). An expression is derived for the relative dust increase when the building fans are switched off. Among other factors, the relative increase is directly proportional to the efficiency of the building filters and to the rate at which air is recirculated through them. The present findings can be extended to similar buildings.     

Banana Production Systems: Identification of Alternative Systems for More Sustainable Production

Large-scale, monoculture production systems dependent on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, increase yields, but are costly and have deleterious impacts on human health and the environment. This research investigates variations in banana production practices in Costa Rica, to identify alternative systems that combine high productivity and profitability, with reduced reliance on agrochemicals. Farm workers were observed during daily production activities; 39 banana producers and 8 extension workers/researchers were interviewed; and a review of field experiments conducted by the National Banana Corporation between 1997 and 2002 was made. Correspondence analysis showed that there is no structured variation in large-scale banana producers’ practices, but two other banana production systems were identified: a small-scale organic system and a small-scale conventional coffee–banana intercropped system. Field-scale research may reveal ways that these practices can be scaled up to achieve a productive and profitable system producing high-quality export bananas with fewer or no pesticides.     

Balancing of Industrial Ventilation Systems

The body of information contained in this paper is directed to those individuals involved in the design and installation of air pollution control systems. When several sources are connected to one ventilation system, a critical part of the overall design is directed to assuring that the system is balanced so that the correct volume is exhausted from each point. The preferable technique for accomplishing this in industrial ventilation systems is the slide gate adjustment method, which can require extensive field adjustment to determine the final slide gate positions. In this study the pressure loss characteristics of slide gate dampers have been measured as a function of damper position, for both round and rectangular ductwork. Generalized graphs are presented that allow for the determination of damper position during the design phase, based on the amount of resistance that must be added to a given branch. Application of this technique indicates it to be both accurate and reliable and significantly reduces the time required to balance a system.     

Metal Emissions from Joule-Heated Vitrification Systems

ABSTRACT

Vitrification demonstrations were conducted for surrogates of three inorganic wastewater sludges in a high-temperature, refractory-lined, slurry-fed melter. The total par-ticulate concentrations and melter decontamination factors were determined for selected elements. The decontamination factors were less than 10 for cadmium and lead in all three demonstrations. The decontamination factors for chromium were less than 30 in the two demonstrations using refractories containing chromium, and they were greater than 150 for the demonstrations using refractories without chromium. Except for one demonstration on a surrogate waste with a high sulfate content, decontamination factors were above 80 for the other heavy metals in the demonstrations.     

Eliminating Reheat from Existing FGD Systems

The Clean Air Act Amendments of the early 1970_s required coal burning utilities to reduce their emissions of sulfur dioxide. Lime or limestone based wet systems were employed for flue gas desulfurization (FGD). These systems reduced flue gas temperatures to below acid dew point conditions. Concerned about the prospect of ductwork exposed to a saturated, acid-rich environment, most utilities turned to stack gas reheat (SGR) to increase flue gas temperatures. By 1980, 82 percent of all FGD facilities employed SGR. Today there are about 130 FGD systems of which 101 employ some form of stack gas reheat.     

Conceptual and Numerical Modeling of Radionuclide Transport and Retention in Near-Surface Systems

Scenarios of barrier failure and radionuclide release to the near-surface environment are important to consider within performance and safety assessments of repositories for nuclear waste. A geological repository for spent nuclear fuel is planned at Forsmark, Sweden. Conceptual and numerical reactive transport models were developed in order to assess the retention capacity of the Quaternary till and clay deposits for selected radionuclides, in the event of an activity release from the repository. The elements considered were carbon (C), chlorine (Cl), cesium (Cs), iodine (I), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), nickel (Ni), radium (Ra), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), technetium (Tc), thorium (Th), and uranium (U). According to the numerical predictions, the repository-derived nuclides that would be most significantly retained are Th, Ni, and Cs, mainly through sorption onto clays, followed by U, C, Sr, and Ra, trapped by sorption and/or incorporation into mineral phases.     

Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Systems: Present Problems and Future Needs

This overview represents much of the discussion and summarizes many of the concerns emerging from the recent APCA Specialty Conference, “In-Situ Air Quality Monitoring from Moving Platforms.”

Users of mobile air quality monitoring systems have been hampered in their attempts to generate dependable data because of a lack of suitable instrumentation. Most equipment used in mobile systems was designed for laboratory or stationary monitoring applications and cannot cope well with the harsh environment encountered in aircraft or other mobile platforms. Only through innovative modifications have investigators been able to utilize off-the-shelf equipment. The technology exists, however, for manufacturers to build a much higher quality product if only a market incentive could be created.

This paper outlines problem areas which need to be addressed in the production of reliable “mobile quality” instrumentation, and suggests some market incentives.     

两种空气自动监测系统的比较

国产长光程空气自动监测系统是中国自行研制的更为先进、更具自动化的系统，24h点式仪器是老式空气检测仪器，对这两种新、老仪器的比较可以看出在运行过程中的利弊。     

Characterization of Emissions from Diffusion Flare Systems

ABSTRACT

Emissions from flares typical of those found at oil-field battery sites in Alberta, Canada, were investigated to determine the degree to which the flared gases were burned and to characterize the products of combustion in the emissions. The study consisted of laboratory, pilot-scale, and field-scale investigations. Combustion of all hydrocarbon fuels in both laboratory and pilot-scale tests produced a complex variety of hydrocarbon products within the flame, primarily by pyrolytic reactions. Acetylene, eth-ylene, benzene, styrene, ethynyl benzene, and naphthalene were some of the major constituents produced by conversion of more than 10% of the methane within the flames. The majority of the hydrocarbons produced within the flames of pure gas fuels were effectively destroyed in the outer combustion zone, resulting in combustion efficiencies greater than 98% as measured in the emissions.

The addition of liquid hydrocarbon fuels or condensates to pure gas streams had the largest effect on impairing the ability of the resulting flame to destroy the pyrolytically produced hydrocarbons, as well as the original hydrocarbon fuels directed to the flare. Crosswinds were also found to reduce the combustion efficiency (CE) of the co-flowing gas/condensate flames by causing more unburned fuel and the pyrolytically produced hydrocarbons to escape into the emissions.

Flaring of solution gas at oil-field battery sites was found to burn with an efficiency of 62-82%, depending on either how much fuel was directed to flare or how much liquid hydrocarbon was in the knockout drum. Benzene, styrene, ethynyl benzene, ethynyl-methyl benzenes, toluene, xylenes, acenaphthalene, biphenyl, and fluorene were, in most cases, the most abundant compounds found in any of the emissions examined in the field flare testing. The emissions from sour solution gas flaring also contained reduced sulfur compounds and thiophenes.     

Resource Recovery from Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems

The cost effective benefits of yielding a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) sludge predominantly composed of CaSO₄·2H₂O, have been previously established. The recovery of this material as FGD by-product gypsum has been demonstrated abroad. Recently U.S. wallboard manufacturers have recognized the viability of this recovery practice. Such techno-economic decision making variables as a) by-product specification, b) transportation costs, and c) location of suitable FGD systems enable the recognition of FGD by-product recovery. Recent investigations of resultant solids content and chloride washing reflect the technical possibility of delivering a suitable product. Commercial and economic factors favor recovery based upon rising disposal and transportation costs. Existing and near term proposed systems surface the technical and commercial problems faced by utilities considering recovery.

Generation of an oxidized FGD sludge consisting of 90⁺% CaSO₄·2H₂O and dewatered to 80⁺% solids is technically achievable by air sparging within the FGD system. Although the product is suitable for land disposal, electric power utilities should consider and evaluate by-product recovery. U.S. wallboard manufacturers have established technical criteria for FGD by-product gypsum. Percent CaSO₄·2H₂O, final solids content, particle size, and chloride content are primarily technical parameters. Technology exists within the FGD industry to satisfy these criteria and results are discussed.

Economic factors comparing mining costs, transportation costs, and disposal costs are developed for specific utility projects. Such comparison established generalized financial criteria for a given utility to develop the economic reasonableness of considering FGD byproduct recovery.

End product user perspectives are presented providing electric utilities with a realistic appreciation for by-product recovery potential. Location of existing wallboard plants highlight potential recovery regions. Quality control problems are discussed in terms of generating a by-product rather than a disposable material.     

Air Pollution Control Costs for Coal-to-Electricity Systems

This paper describes a comprehensive set of economic models developed to assess the air pollution control costs of alternative systems for generating electricity from coal. Models of individual system components were formulated based on engineering and statistical analyses of other detailed models and data reported in the literature for currently available technologies. The air pollution control options modeled include 4 levels of physical coal cleaning, 3 types of dry fly ash collectors, a wet limestone FGD system, and 2 options for solid waste disposal. In addition, the cost of a power plant with no air pollution controls was modeled to determine the total system cost, including energy needed to operate environmental control systems. The principal criteria guiding the development of these models were that they be (1) computationally simple and economical to use, with a minimum of detailed data requirements, (2) sensitive to variations in pollutant emission regulations, coal characteristics, and key plant design parameters, and (3) systematic, based on a specified amount of power production and the same constant dollars. Extensive sensitivity analyses and case studies performed with these models indicate excellent agreement with the results of other studies and models applicable only to individual environmental control options. Applications of these models are discussed and illustrative results presented.     

A Cost Model for Air Quality Monitoring Systems

A model was developed for remote terminal use to compare the costs of alternate designs of air quality monitoring networks with varying sophistication, ranging from totally manual to completely automated systems. Of special interest is the isolation of manual sample analysis and manual data analysis for comparison with instrumental sensors and automated data processing.

The model allows for 10 levels of sophistication, and 6 were used in sample runs. As many as 50 samplingsite locations, with three different site types, may be specified, and each site type may have any configuration of chemical and/or meteorological sensors. Amortization, labor rates, instrument costs and lifetimes, telephone line charges, and other variables are readily changed by the user as desired.

It was concluded that for systems with fewer than 20–25 sensors, fully automated systems may not be justified on cost alone, at least for producing the same data (hourly) as the manual or semiautomatic systems. (Much more than hourly data is obtained with the automated system, of course.) For larger systems, labor costs put the nonautomated systems at a disadvantage after a few years of operation.     

Whole House Particle Removal and Clean Air Delivery Rates for In-Duct and Portable Ventilation Systems

Abstract

A novel method for determining whole house particle removal and clean air delivery rates attributable to central and portable ventilation/air cleaning systems is described. The method is used to characterize total and air-cleaner-specific particle removal rates during operation of four in-duct air cleaners and two portable air-cleaning devices in a fully instrumented test home. Operation of in-duct and portable air cleaners typically increased particle removal rates over the baseline rates determined in the absence of operating a central fan or an indoor air cleaner. Removal rates of 0.3- to 0.5-μm particles ranged from 1.5 hr^?1 during operation of an in-duct, 5-in. pleated media filter to 7.2 hr^?1 for an in-duct electrostatic air cleaner in comparison to a baseline rate of 0 hr^?1 when the air handler was operating without a filter. Removal rates for total particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM_2.5) mass concentrations were 0.5 hr^?1 under baseline conditions, 0.5 hr^?1 during operation of three portable ionic air cleaners, 1 hr^?1 for an in-duct 1-in. media filter, 2.4 hr^?1 for a single high-efficiency particle arrestance (HEPA) portable air cleaner, 4.6 hr^?1 for an in-duct 5-in. media filter, 4.7 hr^?1 during operation of five portable HEPA filters, 6.1 hr^?1 for a conventional in-duct electronic air cleaner, and 7.5 hr^?1 for a high efficiency in-duct electrostatic air cleaner. Corresponding whole house clean air delivery rates for PM_2.5 attributable to the air cleaner independent of losses within the central ventilation system ranged from 2 m³/min for the conventional media filter to 32 m³/min for the high efficiency in-duct electrostatic device. Except for the portable ionic air cleaner, the devices considered here increased particle removal indoors over baseline deposition rates.