Applicability of the Mass Concentration Standards for Particulate Matter in Alaskan Areas

The so-called “Six Month Study” of the air toxics problem in the United States was initiated in November 1983 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study focused on the magnitude, nature, and distribution of the problem—three major issues that were felt to be most useful to policy makers as they attempted to define the scope and direction of a national program for controlling toxic air pollutants. The following paper is based on a draft staff report on the study released for review in September 1984. The report has not been formally released by the U.S. EPA; a final report is due by late spring of 1985.     

Effect of Oxidizing and Reducing Conditions on the Reaction of Water with Sulfur Bearing Blast Furnace Slags

The evolution of H₂S and SO₂ from hot blast furnace slags by reaction with H₂O has been found to be dependent upon the presence of O₂ or H₂ in the reaction zone as well as on the temperature. H₂ has been found to produce a small increase in H₂S and a small decrease in SO₂ emission, while O₂ has been found to produce a very great inhibiting effect on H₂S emission and only a small increase in SO₂ emission. The total emission of sulfur bearing gases is much less when H₂O + air is blown at the slag than when H₂O + Ar is blown at the slag, particularly at 1200°C and above. These effects may be useful in attempts to design systems for slag quenching which will produce less pollution.     

Stack Sampling of Hygroscopic Particulates In an Entrained Water Environment

Reference methods for the determination of mercury emissions from stationary sources typically include collection of mercury by solutions which are acidic and oxidizing. In the presence of high levels of SO₂ the oxidizing capacity of these absorbing solutions will be degraded and the collection efficiency for mercury compromised. This seriously limits the usefulness of the reference methods as they apply to the mining and smelting industries. In the present work peroxide is used to remove SO₂ and acidic permanganate is used to collect mercury. At a mean sampling rate of 10 L/min concentrations of at least 12 mg/m³ mercury can be satisfactorily collected in the presence of up to 20,000 ppm SO₂.     

Fine Paniculate Removal and S02 Absorption with a Two Stage Wet Scrubber

This paper includes results from pilot plant studies and early field demonstration units and a discussion of the application of the limestone wet scrubbing process to a low sulfur syb-butuminous coal. This latter application required the development of a hybrid two stage scrubber to enable collection of the fine particulate matter as well as removal of a significant amount of the sulfur dioxide.     

The Need for Representative Ambient Air Carbon Monoxide Sampling

Recent investigations have indicated that ambient air CO measurements may not reflect population exposure to CO. The lack of correlation may be due to improper siting of CO instruments, improper interpretation of air quality data, or both. Studies of population carboxy-hemoglobin levels are evaluated and compared with ambient air data.,

No significant correlation was found between median population COHb levels and reductions in CO concentrations required to meet ambient air standards when calculations used to estimate reductions were based on the second highest 8 hour average. However, calculated reductions based on annual average concentrations and a trend analysis technique correlated significantly with COHb levels in five cities from which both CAMP and COHb data were available.

Studies to determine the nature of the relationship between ambient air CO concentrations and population COHb levels are needed. The differences between the Occupational Safety and Health Act Regulations and the National Ambient Air Standards for carbon monoxide should be scrutinized to determine if a redefinition of the standards or their applicability is warranted. A reevaluation of the controls necessary to make reductions in population COHb burden may be necessary.     

Emission Control in Coking Operations By Use of Stage Charging

At the Clairton Coke Works of the United States Steel Corporation (the world’s largest coke plant), with coal charges of about 30,000 net tons per day, a system designated as “stage charging” has been developed for charging coal into the coke oven chamber without emissions to the atmosphere. The principles of the system are based on controlled sequential flow of the coal from the charging hoppers, during which the oven chamber is maintained under a very slight negative pressure condition by use of steam aspiration in the offtakes for on-the-main charging. The techniques are basic but require knowledge of the coal characteristics, adequate and properly maintained aspirating systems, including clean offtake piping, control of coal volume in the individual hoppers, and last, and probably most important, adherence by the operating crew to specific charging and leveling practices.     

Biological Effects of Carbon Monoxide vs. Whole Emissions from Engine with Catalyst

The introduction of oxidizing catalytic converters in the exhaust system of automobiles has been found to be effective in reducing carbon monoxide, total hydrocarbons, and some other components of tailpipe emissions. The utilization of these converters, however, has also caused further oxidation of sulfur compounds producing an increased amount of sulfur trioxide (SO₃) which yields sulfuric acid and sulfates.¹ Studies on the biological effects of these sulfur compounds are in progress in our laboratory and preliminary findings are reported separately. This paper compares the biological effects of exposure to whole emissions from engines with and without converter and exposure to carbon monoxide alone.     

Turbulent Plume in a Turbulent Cross Flow: Comparison of Wind Tunnel Tests with Field Observations

Plume rise downwind of a large stationary gas turbine was measured in the field and the conditions were then scaled in the laboratory. For the laboratory, the plume exit conditions, wind velocity and temperature profiles, and wind direction were matched. It was found that for high temperature exhaust, the buoyancy is best matched by calculating a dimensionless density difference. With properly calculated buoyancy length scales, the plume trajectories were compared and were found to agree quite well. The probability distributions of the entrainment constant and the average values of the entrapment constant with downwind distance were compared. The field data showed about 15% greater plume rise. The median entrainment constant was about 10% greater for the lab test and the shape of the probability distribution matched very closely.     

Studies on the Effects of Saline Aerosols of Cooling Tower Origin on Plants

A research program was undertaken to develop information that could be used to estimate the risk of adverse effects of saline cooling tower drift on native and cultivated flora in the Indian Point, New York area. Eleven species of woody plants were exposed at 85 % relative humidity to a saline mist with 95% of the particles between 50 and 150 nm in diameter. Three biological factors—stage of development, species, and phenotype—determined the susceptibility of plants to saline aerosols when the occurrence of any lesion on the foliage was used as a measure of response. The effects of stage of development on the incidence and severity of foliar lesions depended upon the kind of plant. In deciduous woody species, the youngest leaves were most susceptible, but in conifers, the year-old needles were most susceptible. Canadian hemlock was the most susceptible species and witch hazel was the least susceptible. Median effective doses for these two species, although undetermined, could be more than 100-fold different (less than 2.4, the lowest used, and greater than 264 ng CI cm^-2, respectively). Other species, ranked in decreasing order of susceptibility were: white ash, white flowering dogwood, forsythia, chestnut oak, silk tree, black locust, red maple, eastern white pine, and golden rain free. Phenofypic variation within a species was not so great—within a 10 to 20-fold increase in dose the incidence of injury went from 0 to 100%. Exposures with bush bean showed that the relative humidity (RH) during or after the exposure period affected the incidence of saline induced foliar injury. A change from 50 to 85% RH doubled the effectiveness of the saline mist. It was also found that compared to particles between 50 and 150 jum in diameter, an increase in the fraction of particles above 150 /xm increased the toxicity of the mist.     

The Formation of Mg3Ca(S04)4 during the Sulfation Reaction of Dolomite

Abstract

Inspection and maintenance programs for motor vehicles in the United States increasingly use loaded mode mass emissions testing (IM240). A method was developed to predict mass emission rates and mass emission changes, particularly from repair benefits, using a low-cost, portable four-gas non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) vehicle exhaust gas analyzer. A single vehicle was tested several times with the analyzer while on the dynamometer and undergoing successive repairs. Excellent correlations for CO and HC were observed. Five vehicles were measured using an on-road driving loop before and after emissions-related repairs, while another three vehicles were tested with no repairs performed. The on-road concentration data used to guide the repair process were converted to grams per gallon; when divided by estimated miles per gallon, this gave grams per mile emissions for comparison to IM240. Correlation coefficients (r²) of 0.87 for CO and 0.76 for HC were achieved for the 13 tests. The linear correlations between IM240 and emissions measured by this method would allow repair facilities to perform a relatively inexpensive test for diagnostic purposes and to estimate repair effectiveness without the need for a dynamometer.