Conversion rates in power plant plumes based on filter pack data. Part II: The oil fired Northport plume

Conference ·

OSTI ID:5013471

Garber, R W; Forrest, J; Newman, L

More than 60 airborne plume studies were conducted at a large oil-fired power station during a 3-1/2 year period. These studies were conducted to determine the typical rate of formation of sulfate in the plume and the conditions which most influence these atmospheric processes. The power plant chosen for this program is located in the northeast region of the US and during the course of these studies a typical variety of meteorological conditions were encountered. The diurnal variation was also extensively studied. Plume sulfate rarely accounted for more than 5% of the total plume sulfur even for plume travel times of up to 4 hours. For most experiments more than half of the plume sulfate was that emitted from the power plant units. The rate of atmospheric oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfate was not readily discernible due to the low rate of conversion and the relatively high amount of the sulfate emitted. The results reported generally indicate an apparent oxidation rate of less than 1% per hour. A diurnal influence or effects due to changes in various meteorological conditions are difficult to detect. However the large data set permits us to conclude that either higher temperatures, higher partial pressures, or midday periods can give rise to oxidation rates two to three times higher than the average.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5013471
• Report Number(s): BNL-28349; CONF-801114-8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200200 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Waste Management
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DAILY VARIATIONS
DATA
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUEL OILS
FUELS
INFORMATION
KINETICS
LIQUID FUELS
MASS TRANSFER
NUMERICAL DATA
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLUMES
POWER PLANTS
REACTION KINETICS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
VARIATIONS