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Near-rail yard air quality--assessment through field measurements and computational fluid dynamics modeling
Citation:
HAGLER, G. Near-rail yard air quality--assessment through field measurements and computational fluid dynamics modeling. Presented at American Association of Aerosol Research, Orlando, FL, October 03, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
prospecting abstract
Description:
Compared to truck transport, goods movement by rail produces generally lower air pollutant emissions (e.g., particulate matter, carbon dioxide) per ton of freight transported. Emissions associated with rail transport are also confined to rail corridors which may lower the risk of close proximity population exposure. Rail transport is supported by rail yard operations where goods containers are loaded and unloaded and switching operations occur. The impact of rail yard operations on local air quality is not well understood. Intermodal rail yards, the focus of this study, contain various emissions types within the yard - cranes moving containers between trains and trucks, hostler trucks and switcher locomotives moving containers within the yard, trains passing through or idling in the yard, and commercial trucks delivering or receiving freight containers. This study seeks to characterize rail yard-related air pollution through a combination of field measurements and computational modeling. A field study took place during 2010-2011 at a large rail yard in Cicero, Illinois and included a continuous monitoring site located 20 m from the rail yard boundary, in the direction of prevailing winds, as well as a one month intensive mobile measurement campaign involving an instrumented vehicle mapping air pollutants within and surrounding the rail yard. Mobile measurements included particulate matter (ultrafine, fine, and coarse mode), black carbon, and carbon monoxide. Continuous measurements included fine particulate matter, black carbon, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen. In addition, a generic computational fluid dynamics model, designed to generally match the scale of the Cicero yard, is applied to study the dispersion of rail yard emissions under different wind direction and investigate the impact of emissions location or terrain on downstream concentrations.