Investigation Into The Measurement Of Particulate Emissions From Stationary Sources

This PhD research project has an industrial focus investigating the measurement of particulate emissions from stationary sources. The requirement for accurate measurement is imperative for the understanding and therefore reduction of harmful particulate emissions. Requirements for cleaner air has now been driven by regulators who are imposing more stringent restrictions on emitters and processes who contribute to harmful emissions. This puts the regulatory burden of proving compliance with the operators of these processes and therefore introduces the need for accurate monitoring and reporting techniques. To present accurate data, reliable and repeatable techniques to measure particulate emissions is required.

This research presents an overview of the particulate emissions measurement industry through a literature review, industrial survey, and multi criteria decision analysis. The purpose of an in-depth industry review was to realise the current position of the industry with a view to seeking areas for improvement and development. The literature review analysed the available measurement equipment, categories for particulate measurement, particulate emissions sources, legislation, and methods of multi criteria decision analysis. The industrial survey analysed the views and opinions of experts working within the field of particulate emissions monitoring. Issues associated within the industry and the current methodologies to measure particulate emissions were highlighted. Multi criteria decision analysis was used as a strategy to select suitable equipment, dependent upon the application, as the best available technology. There is currently no equipment available to measure the mass of particulate directly and continuously in a gas stream, for all applications.

Following the in-depth review of the industry the development of a method to measure the mass of particulate on a filter directly and continuously was developed with a focus on the geometry design for highest sensitivity. A U-shaped glass tube was developed with a filter fitted at the anti-nodal point as a method of analysing the particulate in a sampled gas stream.

Following the development of a method to measure mass directly and online in a gas stream, the process of extracting a representative sample was investigated. An analysis was made of data taken from 21 United Kingdom (UK) processes that have a regulatory responsibility to measure particulate emissions. In processes with particulate emissions <5 mg/m3, 80.7% of the total sample was collected in the rinse, and for processes >5 mg/m3, 56.4% of the sample was collected in the rinse. The data doesn’t suggest any correlation between any of the measured parameters and the percentage of particulate in the rinse, including the stack velocity, isokinetic percentage, sample volume, and the total mass concentration. This highlighted further areas for improvement and development within the particulate emissions measurement industry.