Open burning and open detonation PM₁₀ mass emission factor measurements with optical remote sensing

Abstract

Emission factors (EFs) of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter 10 µm (PM 10 ) from the open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) of energetic materials were measured using a hybrid-optical remote sensing (hybrid-ORS) method. This method is based on the measurement of range-resolved PM backscattering values with a micropulse light detection and ranging (LIDAR; MPL) device. Field measurements were completed during March 2010 at Tooele Army Depot, Utah, which is an arid continental site. PM 10 EFs were quantified for OB of M1 propellant and OD of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). EFs from this study are compared with previous OB/OD measurements reported in the literature that have been determined with point measurements either in enclosed or ambient environments, and with concurrent airborne point measurements. PM 10 mass EFs, determined with the hybrid-ORS method, were 7.8 Â 10 À3 kg PM 10 /kg M1 from OB of M1 propellant, and 0.20 kg PM 10 /kg TNT from OD of TNT. Compared with previous results reported in the literature, the hybrid-ORS method EFs were 13% larger for OB and 174% larger for OD. Compared with the concurrent airborne measurements, EF values from the hybrid-ORS method were 37% larger for OB and 54% larger for OD. For TNT, no statistically significant differences were observed for the EFs measured during the detonation of 22.7 and 45.4 kg of TNT, supporting that the total amount of detonated mass in this mass range does not have an effect on the EFs for OD of TNT.Implications: Particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere affects the health of humans and ecosystems, visibility, and climate. Fugitive PM emissions are not well characterized because of spatial and temporal ubiquity and heterogeneity. The hybrid-ORS method is appropriate for quantifying fugitive PM emission factors (EFs) because it captures the spatial and temporal dispersion of ground level and elevated plumes in real time, without requiring numerous point measurement devices. The method can be applied to provide an opportunity to reduce the uncertainty of fugitive PM EFs and readily update PM emissions in National Emission Inventories for a range of fugitive PM sources.

Fugitive Particulate Matter Emissions to the Atmosphere from Tracked and Wheeled Vehicles in a Desert Region by Hybrid-Optical Remote Sensing

“…These include movement of vehicles on unpaved roads (Gillies et al, 2005;Du et al, 2011b), movement of helicopters over unpaved surface (Du et al, 2011b), movement of agricultural tractors (Holmén et al, 1998) and harvesters (Faulkner et al, 2009), and open burning and detonation (Yuen et al, 2014). Fugitive PM EFs of military and civilian vehicles have been compared using flux tower method, for vehicles traveling from 10 to 80 km/hr, and vehicle masses between 1 and 17 tonnes (Gillies et al, 2005).…”