Environmental problem solving; The 1987-88 metro Denver Brown cloud study

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Chemical Engineering Progress; (USA)

OSTI ID:6722218

Lyons, C E ^[1]

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1. Denver Univ., CO (USA)

In the Denver metropolitan area during the winter of 1987--88 a proposed air pollution control strategy was tested as part of the effort to combat Denver's brown cloud. Electricity in the Denver area, including the cities of Boulder and Golden, is supplied by four generating stations owned and operated by the Public Service Co. of Colorado (PSC). The smallest plant uses natural gas. The three largest,which generate up to 1,100 MW, burn coal. Local air quality advocates recommended to switch the coal-fired plants to natural gas to reduce Denver's visible air pollution problem. During three periods of about two weeks each during the winter of 1987--88, PSC converted all of its coal-fired units to natural gas, which reduced total sulfur emissions in Denver by over 50% and permitted a full-scale analysis of the effectiveness of this control strategy. The results of this analysis are presented.

• OSTI ID: 6722218
• Journal Information: Chemical Engineering Progress; (USA), Vol. 86:5; ISSN 0009-2495
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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