1. Method-9 Visual Emission Evaluation Certification Classroom Training - Part 1
Welcome to the classroom session for the visual emission evaluation certifications offered by HMH Consulting in Anchorage, AK. This classroom session is a pre-requisite towards becoming certified as a Method-9 visual emission reader. This classroom session is required once for first-time readers, however it is strongly recommended that you periodically revisit the classroom training in order to stay current with latest developments pertaining to the rule. In addition, you must complete the field certifications on a six-month basis. HMH offers a practice field training session on our web-page. This practice field training session follows the exact format of the field training and includes a full practice run of 25 black and 25 white smoke readings.
Alaska Environmental Resources, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
© Alaska Environmental Resources, LLC

2. Course Overview VEE – Basics and History
Methods of Air Pollution Monitoring
Combustion and Air Pollution Controls.
Method 9 Opacity Observation Method.
Method 22 Opacity Observation Method.
Field Certification Procedures.
Example Opacity Observations
QUIZZ/Course Evaluation (to obtain a certificate of completion)

3. Opacity Webster’s Definition EPA/ADEC Definition
o · pas · é · te Function: noun The condition, quality or degree of being opaque; broadly : the relative capacity of matter to obstruct the transmission of radiant energy.
EPA/ADEC Definition
Opacity: The degree to which emissions
reduce the transmission of light through a smoke plume
obscure the view of background when looking through a smoke plume

4. Observations: Relationship of Opacity and Transmittancexx

5. Visible Emission Components
Soot
Fly-ash
Dust
Fumes
Mist
Gases (NOx – brown/yellow; Cl – green/yellow)
Condensates
Smoke (all of above …)

6. Opacity - Transmittance
Total Light = Transmitted Light + Obscured Light (Opacity)
Opacity is always expressed as a percentage (%)
Transmittance is a decimal fraction (1 - 0)
so the formula for opacity is
O = (1-T) x 100
Courtesy of California Air Resources Board

7. Smoke has not always been considered a problem – in the early days of industrialization it was considered - PROGRESS

8. Ringelmann Chart Courtesy of California Air Resources Board
Was used to establish correlation between smoke density and boiler efficiency
Courtesy of California Air Resources Board

9. Courtesy of California Air Resources Board

10. Events cause Public Concern
Industrial Era Produces Acute Effects - Air Pollution Episodes
Meuse Valley, Belgium (1930)
Donora, Pennsylvania (1948)
London (1873, 1892,1952, 1955)
Los Angeles ( ???)

11. Particulate and sulfur dioxide are to blame.
Donora, PA – Dec. 1948
60 Deaths
6,000 people ill.
Particulate and sulfur dioxide are to blame.

12. London, England
1873 – 268 deaths
1892 – 1000 deaths
1952 – 4,000 deaths, unknown number of ill
1955 – 1,000 deaths, unknown number of ill

13. Fuel-Bound Sulfur Emissions
S + O2 --- > SO2 (sulfur dioxide gas)
2SO2 + O > 2SO3 (sulfur trioxide gas)
SO3 + H2O --- > H2SO4 (sulfuric acid mist)
H2SO4 + particles --- > sulfates (fine particulates)

14. Los Angeles, CA
1965 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act
(required controls on automobile emissions by 1968.

15. Photo Chemical Reaction
H2O + CO → H + CO2 H + O2 → HO2 (Hydroxyl Radical)
(+ VOC)
HO2 + NO → OH + NO2 + hν → NO + O + O2 → O3
CO + 2O2 → CO2 + O3
VOCs + O3 + NO2 + hν → CH3COOONO2
Peroxyacetyl Nitrates (PAN)
Aldehydes

16. Air Pollutants Primary Pollutant Secondary Pollutant
Found in the atmosphere in the same chemical form as when it was emitted from its source
Example: Carbon Monoxide
Secondary Pollutant
Formed in the atmosphere as a result from chemical transformations of primary pollutants.
Example: Tropospheric Ozone (NOx + organics + sunlight)

17. Title V Permit Emission Standards
Opacity
Particulate Matter
Sulfur Dioxide
Apply to Stationary Sources and Marine Vessels
Standards vary by Source Type and Date Built

18. Regulated Air Pollutants
Criteria Pollutants:
O3, PM, PM 10, PM 2.5, CO, NOx, SO2, lead,
Non-Criteria Pollutants: HAPS
Carcinogens, Mutagens, H2S, VOCs, fluorides
Opacity … ???

19. Opacity Limits & Levels of Concern
Old Coal-fired Power Plants - 100% up to 6 min/hr
Urea Prill Towers – 55%
Older Boilers – 30%
Boilers, diesel generators, incinerators – 20%
Ships - 20%
Waste gas incinerators - 10% by permit
Levels of concern (or action levels): 5% of these limits i.e., action levels at 15% opacity for boilers and ships and 5% opacity for the incinerators.

20. Air Pollution Monitoring Methods
40 CFR 60, Appendix A:
Test Methods 1 – 30B
Test Methods 9, 9B (Lidar), 9C (Cameras ??)
Test Method 22
Test Method 203 A, B, C
(proposed, same as M9, except data reduction – time averaging)
40 CFR 60, Appendix B, F:
Performance Specifications (COMS/CEMS)
40 CFR 60, Parts 53 and 58
Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Methods

21. Complying with Emission Standards Source Testing
Provides the most accurate data on actual emissions.
Emissions can be estimated, but it’s generally less reliable.

22. COMS
CEMS

23. CEMS

24. Ambient Monitoring
Meteorological Monitoring Station

25. Ambient Air Monitoring Station inside a Trailer

26. Ambient Monitoring Trailer

27. Origins of Air Pollutants
Internal Combustion Units
Engines/Generators
Turbines
External Combustion Units
Boilers
Flares
Incinerators
Area Sources
Agricultural/Open Burning
Mobile Sources
Stockyards/Ponds
Natural Sources
Forest Fires
Volcanoes

28. Sources and Air Pollution Controls

29. Alaskan Emission Units have a wide variety of stacks. Some tall.....

30. ...Some short. There are also many horizontal stacks.

31. Flares are used to destroy vapors, usually in low concentrations.

32. Some mobile sources in Alaska are regulated and need to be observed.
Marine Vessels are subject to Opacity standards while berthed, while maneuvering, and when underway.

33. Open burning is common, and can occur with mechanical assistance (air curtain incinerators)
A “Burn Basket” on a floating seafood processor.

34. Solid Waste Incinerators

39. Three “T”s of Combustion
Combustion Mechanics
Three “T”s of Combustion
Time
Temperature
Turbulence

40. Combustion Equation
Fuel + Air = Water + Carbon Dioxide + Air Pollutants

41. Control by Design Mostly affects NOx and CO Emissions Boilers/Turbines
Low-NOx Combustion
“Staged” Combustion
Fluidized Bed (coal)
Steam/H2O Injection
Steam in plume
Diesel Engines
Fuel Injection Timing
Incinerators
Burner Temperature
Flue Gas Recirculation
Residence Time

42. Control by Design Mostly affects NOx and CO Emissions Boilers/Turbines
Low-NOx Combustion
“Staged” Combustion
Fluidized Bed (coal)
Steam/H2O Injection
Steam in plume
Diesel Engines
Fuel Injection Timing
Incinerators
Burner Temperature
Flue Gas Recirculation
Residence Time

43. Control by Design Mostly affects NOx and CO Emissions Boilers/Turbines
Low-NOx Combustion
“Staged” Combustion
Fluidized Bed (coal)
Steam/H2O Injection
Steam in plume
Diesel Engines
Fuel Injection Timing
Incinerators
Burner Temperature
Flue Gas Recirculation
Residence Time

44. Controlling Air Pollution from Stationary Sources

45. Particulate Control Settling Chambers
Oldest Pollution Control device known (Roman Smelters)
Gravity does the work
Exhaust gas enters a large chamber. Exhaust gases slow down and particles fall out.
Not very efficient. Need a lot of space.

46. Particulate Control Cyclones
Actually named “Inertial Separators”
Centrifugal Force pushes particles to outside walls, gas turns suddenly and exits. Particles drop to bottom.
Design influences control efficiency. (long and thin cyclones control smaller particles better than short and fat cyclones)
Many cyclones connected together are called ‘Multi-clones.’
Multi-clones take up less space than a single huge cyclone.
Can be used to separate different particle sizes.

47. Particulate Control Multi-clones

48. Particulate Control Fabric Filters (Baghouses)
Gases are filtered through bags
Works like a vacuum cleaner
Baghouses types named by cleaning method
Mechanical Shaking
Reverse Air
Pulse Jet
Sonic / Combinations
Can be used with calcium injection to control SO2

49. Example of Baghouses
Pulse Jet Reverse Air

50. ESPs
Plate “Rapper”

51. Electrostatic Precipitators
Electric Charge placed on particles.
Particles then attracted to positively charged plates
Different Designs
Plate-wire
Dry or Wet Walls
Tumbling Hammer
Spray clean
Sludge or dust waste
poll/e_static.htm

52. Wet/Dry Scrubbers
Can be used to reduce both gas pollutants and particulate emissions.
Water (or water and additives) contacts particles (or reacts with gases) to collect them from the exhaust.
Exhaust Liquids can be recycled.
Sludge waste product must be disposed.
A “Dry” Scrubber works on the same principle as a “Wet” Scrubber. Water and additives (called sorbent) is sprayed into the top of a large chamber. As the sorbent interacts with the hot exhaust gases, the gaseous pollutants are collected as the sorbent dries.

53. Wet Scrubber (Tray-Type)
Scrubbers
Wet
Dry
Wet Scrubbers most common
Remove Pollutant Gasses by absorption
Atomization of water spray
Steam in exhaust plume
Sludge/waste product

54. Wet Scrubber – Packed-Type

55. Control of SO2 (before and after)
Wet Tower Controls
Control of SO2 (before and after)

56. SCR System

57. Color of Smoke What causes the following types of smoke …?
Black Smoke (soot, unburned carbon/fuel)
White Smoke (particles, condensates)
Grey Smoke (mixture of black and white)
Blue Smoke (VOCs)
Red/Brown Smoke (particles, ozone, NOx)
Other colors …?
Reading Opacities …?