A review of the new ISC-PRIME model and implications for power plant licensing in Maryland
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) manages the consolidated review of environmental, engineering, socioeconomic, cost, and need issues that new and modified power plants in Maryland must address as part of the power plant licensing process. Power plant licensing cases in Maryland have included the addition or replacement of small diesel or combustion turbine electrical generation units, or the addition of new, larger simple-cycle combustion turbine units. Air quality modeling, including an assessment of the effects of building downwash, is often a part of the licensing process. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has sponsored the development of an improved building downwash model through its PRIME (Plume Rise Model Enhancements) project, involving the design and development of algorithms intended to address deficiencies in the widely used ISCST3. EPA recently provided a version of ISC that incorporates the PRIME model (ISC-PRIME) for review and comment by the public prior to deciding on the suitability and regulatory status of ISC-PRIME. The present paper focuses on a systematic evaluation of ISC-PRIME as it relates to short stacks with exhaust characteristics similar to diesel generators and combustion turbines, using both routine hourly meteorology and synthesized meteorological data covering a wide variety of stability and wind speed combinations. The goals of the paper are two-fold: first, to understand and explain the implications of this new model for power plant licensing decisions in the State of Maryland; and second, to broaden the experience base of the potential ISC-PRIME user community with information on model performance details that are not otherwise readily available.
- Research Organization:
- ERM, Exton, PA (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20002113
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-990608-; TRN: IM200002%%113
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Air and Waste 92nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, St. Louis, MO (US), 06/20/1999--06/24/1999; Other Information: 1 CD-ROM. Operating Systems: Windows 3.1, '95, '98 and NT; Macintosh; and UNIX; PBD: 1999; Related Information: In: Air and Waste 92nd annual meeting and exhibition proceedings, [9500] pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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