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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

VOC and hazardous air pollutant emission factors for military aircraft fuel cell inspection, maintenance, and repair operations

Conference ·
OSTI ID:351139
;  [1]
  1. Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., Pasadena, CA (United States)
Accurate emission estimation is one of the key aspects of implementation of any air quality program. The Federal Title 5 program, specially requires an accurate and updated inventory of criteria as well hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from all facilities. An overestimation of these two categories of pollutants, may cause the facility to be classified as a major source, when in fact it may actually be a minor source, and may also trigger unnecessary compliance requirements. A good example of where overestimation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and HAPs is easily possible are military aircraft fuel cells inspection, maintenance, and repair operations. The military aircraft fuel tanks, which are commonly identified as fuel cells, are routinely inspected for maintenance and repairs at military aircraft handling facilities. Prior to entry into the fuel cell by an inspector, fuel cells are first drained into bowsers and then purged with fresh air; the purged air is generally released without any controls to the atmosphere through a stack. The VOC and HAPs emission factors from these operations are not available in the literature for JP-8 fuel, which is being used increasingly by military aircraft. This paper presents two methods for estimating emissions for this source type, which are based on engineering calculations and professional judgment. This paper presents several methods for estimating emissions for this source type, which are based on engineering calculations and professional judgment. There are three emission producing phases during the draining and purging operations: (1) emissions during splash loading of bowsers (unloading of fuel cells), (2) emissions from spillage of fuel during loading of bowsers, and (3) emissions from fuel cell purging operations. Results of the emission estimation, including a comparison of the two emission estimation methods are presented in this paper.
OSTI ID:
351139
Report Number(s):
CONF-970677--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English