Citation:

Thoma, E., I. George, R. Duvall, T. Wu, D. Whitaker, K. Oliver, S. Mukerjee, H. Brantley, J. Spann, T. Bell, N. CarltonCarew, P. Deshmukh, J. Cansler, T. Cousett, W. TANG, A. Cooley, K. Zimmerman, B. Dewitt, AND B. Parris. Rubbertown Next Generation Emissions Measurements Demonstration Project June 2019. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland, 16(11):2041, (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16112041

Impact/Purpose:

Energy production operations, refineries, chemical plants, and other industries and waste facilities can emit air pollutants and odorous compounds from fugitive leaks, process malfunctions, and area sources that are hard to detect and manage. From the shared perspective of industries, regulators, and communities, improved understanding of stochastic industrial sources (SIS) can yield many benefits such as safer working environments, cost savings through reduced product loss, lower airshed impacts, and improved community relations. The emergence of lower-cost sensors and inverse modeling approaches, is enabling new cost-effective ways to detect and analyze SIS emissions. Under its next generation emissions measurement (NGEM) program, EPA is working with a range of partners to develop and test NGEM tools that can assist facilities in detection and management of sources. As described in the below abstract, the following product contributes to the general advancement and communication of NGEM concepts.

Description:

Product Description: Industrial facilities have the potential to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and odorous species from unintended sources including fugitive leaks, process malfunctions, and improperly controlled operations. Stochastic in nature, these sources can be difficult to predict and manage. Industries, regulators, and nearby communities agree that minimization of these types of emissions is beneficial with the key to progress centering on improved understanding of this source category. New approaches for cost-effective detection and mitigation of stochastic industrial emissions can improve working safety, reduce product loss, lower airshed impacts, and strengthen community relations. Next generation emissions measurement (NGEM) systems are creating new ways to detect and analyze source emissions from remote vantage points. This paper presents interim results from a current collaborative field effort between the EPA and the Louisville Metro Air Pollution and Control District called the Rubbertown NGEM Demonstration Project. This effort tests prototype NGEM systems on a range of spatial and temporal scales while attempting to learn about sources of VOCs, HAPs, and odorous compound emission in the Rubbertown industrial district of Louisville KY. This paper provides a brief overview of the study and NGEM technologies employed and discuss select interim results from time-integrated and time-resolved measurements from the first year of the project with focus on two example case studies of elevated 1,3-butadiene events.

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