Determination of PM 10 and PM 2.5 emissions

State Project VaV 740/3/01. Inventory of emissions – scientific and technical aspects output to the European Union, part DU 01. Assessment and adaptation of current methods to conduct emissions inventories for pollution monitoring within the scope of the CLRTAP (Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution) protocol and for records of required data as stipulated within the scope of EU Directives, responsible problem solver of a component part for the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, 2001-2003. A summary poster may be found here.

Remarks on the Separation of Particles

The section of the VaV 740/3/01 project which focussed on the experimental verification and assessment of procedures for determining PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles in emissions was divided into three stages during 2001 - 2003. Emissions modifications to the VAPS sampling system, manufactured by URG Corp., USA, were used to sort extracted particles contained in waste gas from common pollution sources; this system was acquired for the VaV 740-6-01 projects entitled “Research on the Origins of Dust” and was applied systematically to the TEPLICE Program.

The first stage of performing this task was to use the VAPS (E) particle separation device to evaluate the granulometry of the particles captured on the filters in separate sorting tracks of the apparatus, the graticular ring method using a scanning electron microscope. The second stage was to adjust the sampling conditions and to check repeatedly the trapped granulometry and then to check the possibility of using part of the waste gas flow in tracing PM 2.5 to assess the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and selected heavy metals fixed to PM 2.5 fraction particles. The third stage was to conduct experiments to set the repeatability of measurements and to determine any abnormalities in the results and to conduct measurements on sampled sources, concluding with a TSP determination test, the purpose of which was to determine the measurement of produced PM 2.5 / PM 10 emissions and the proportion/ratio of represented PM 2.5 and PM 10 fractions in TSP. In all of these stages of theVaV 740/3/01 task so-called “signature sources” were used when conducting experimental work as stipulated in the framework of task VaV 740/6/01. These signature sources were utilised also in the determination of the specific PM 2.5 / PM 10 manufacturing emissions within the scope of the assignment of the project bearer of the VaV 740/3/01 Project, without the need to increase the financial support granted for carrying out both projects.

From the results of assessments of the manufactured emissions of the separate fraction particles in common sources, it is apparent that these levels are highly variable and dependent on the system of waste gas cleaning, or more precisely, on the final separator used on the sources and on the operating conditions/states of the sources and not on their source classification. This fact must be taken into account when applying emissions factors to fraction particles, where conditions are documented, for example, on major combustion sources in which in the scope of the project most values of certain manufacturing emissions are taken. A secondary error when using emissions factors is in this case 46%, the maximum error would in this case be 90%. The risk of obtaining erroneous conclusions when using emission factors of fraction particles is substantial.

A significant output of this part of the project has been the implementation of experimental determination methods of the emission fractions PM 2.5 / PM 10, which are now available for the requisites in the area of living environment standards in the Czech Republic. In order to maintain the usefulness of this method, it is appropriate to maintain the continuity of the initial work and at the same time to gradually obtain domestic experimental data for improving the data for the emission fractions PM2.5 / PM 10 particles and their representation in TSP.