Selected studies of four high-temperature air-pollution sources

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5451991

Germani, M S

Several studies concerning the atmospheric emissions of five copper smelters, a coal-fired power plant, a municipal incinerator and the Mt. Erebus volcano in Antarctica were conducted. Many chalcophilic elements, e.g., As, Se, Pb, Cd, Zn, W and In, are strongly enriched with respect to the Earth's crustal abundance pattern in particulate material emitted from copper smelters. Collection and analysis methods were developed for determining vapor-phase concentrations of several elements in a high temperature gas stream and tested at a coal-fired power plant. The results indicate that > 99% of the Cl and I, 99% of Br and 98% of the Hg are present in the vapor phase. The apparent vapor-phase concentrations of As and Se are dependent upon the sampling and plant operating conditions. Dissolution measurement on in-stack cascade impactor samples and studies with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an x-ray fluorescence detector (SEM-XRF) were used to determine chemical association of the major elements and the morphologies of suspended particles from a municipal incinerator. One suspended particulate material type contains the lithophilic elements and dominates the large-particle fraction. The other type consists of the highly enriched elements, many of which are very soluble, e.g., Zn, Pb, Ag and Cd, which are present in semicrystalline salt particles, dominating the small particle fraction. Vapor-phase concentrations of Hg were determined at the incinerator using a gold-coated glass bead collector and cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Particulate and vapor-phase samples were collected in the plume at the rim of Mt. Erebus in Antarctica. Large enrichments were observed for many elements, most notably the volatile chalcophilic elements, As, Se, In, Cd, and Sb, and the halogens, F, Cl, and Br.

• OSTI ID: 5451991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010800 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200200 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Waste Management
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
AIR POLLUTION
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
ANTARCTICA
ANTIMONY
ARSENIC
BROMINE
CADMIUM
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHLORINE
COPPER
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
HALOGENS
INCINERATORS
IODINE
LEAD
MERCURY
METALS
MICROSCOPY
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
NONMETALS
POLAR REGIONS
POLLUTION
POWER PLANTS
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SMELTERS
SPECTROSCOPY
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TUNGSTEN
VOLCANOES
X-RAY EMISSION ANALYSIS
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS
ZINC