Evidence of aqueous phase SO/sub 2/ oxidation in power plant plumes
Perhaps the first field study in which dramatic evidence of liquid phase SO/sub 2/ conversion was found was that conducted by Dittenhoefer and De Pena. In this study, 13 plume sampling experiments using instrumented aircraft were made in the vicinity of the coal-fired Keystone power plant in western Pennsylvania to measure the transformation rate of SO/sub 2/ to sulfate. The experiments were conducted under a wide range of meteorological conditions to aid in identifying the major gas-to-particle conversion mechanisms. A unique method for quantitatively detecting sulfate in individual particles using a transmission electron microscope was applied. It was found that although plume sulfate particle size distributions were highly dependent on both ambient relative humidity and solar radiative flux, relative humidity was by far the predominant parameter governing the SO/sub 2/ transformation rate within the initial one to two hours of plume transport. The highest observed SO/sub 2/ conversion rate of approximately 6% per hour occurred during plume merger with a stratocumulus cloud deck, when dried sulfate particles achieved a maximum size of roughly 1.7 ..mu..M after 30 minutes of plume transport. This evidence suggests the overwhelming importance of droplet phase sulfate formation in the plume. In this paper the data from a plume chemistry field study is further analyzed to provide additional evidence of the aqueous phase oxidation of SO/sub 2/ in the power plant plume. This evidence is first obtained through analysis of the observed evolution of plume sulfate particle size distributions as a function of plume travel time. Secondly, it is shown that a chemical mechanism describing the liquid phase oxidation of SO/sub 2/ by H/sub 2/O/sub 2/, assuming typical ambient NH/sub 3/ and H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ concentrations, could adequately account for much of the observed sulfate in the plume.
- Research Organization:
- Enviroplan, Inc., West Orange, NJ
- OSTI ID:
- 5869512
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-840612-
- Journal Information:
- Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States), Vol. 2; Conference: Air Pollution Control Association annual meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 25 Jun 1984
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
COAL
COMBUSTION
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
OXIDATION
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
PLUMES
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
SAMPLING
SULFATES
CHEMICAL REACTION YIELD
SULFUR DIOXIDE
AIRCRAFT
AMMONIA
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
HUMIDITY
PARTICLE SIZE
PENNSYLVANIA
QUANTITY RATIO
SOLAR FLUX
TIME DEPENDENCE
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION III
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
KINETICS
MATERIALS
MIXTURES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POWER PLANTS
REACTION KINETICS
SIZE
SOLUTIONS
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR OXIDES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
YIELDS
010900* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
200202 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management- Noxious Gas & Particulate Emissions