SMOKE PLUME AIR MONITORING ANALYSIS DURING FRESHWATER IN-SITU OIL BURN (ISB) RESEARCH
Citation:
Gullett, B., J. Aurell, A. Bittner, AND A. Holder. SMOKE PLUME AIR MONITORING ANALYSIS DURING FRESHWATER IN-SITU OIL BURN (ISB) RESEARCH. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-23/110, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
This work addressed the issue of hazards from smoke plumes during remediation actions that are burning spilled oil on water. The emissions are measured using an unmanned aircraft system (drone) equipped with a sensor measurement system of instruments as well as ground-based instruments. The longer term significance of this work is in understanding emission factors from oil burn as well as understanding how different types of ground-based instruments perform in measuring emissions and providing on-scene coordinators with hazard information. This work would be of interest to emergency responders, decision makers that are understanding how to respond to fires, and those that are developing technologies to remediate oil spills.
Description:
This report documents the results of an interagency project to sample emissions from in situ oil burns, comparing ground-based particulate matter measurements with measurements by aerial unmanned aircraft system (UAS). A sensor/sampler system from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), was used to measure gas and particulate emissions from an oil fire on water at the Army Corps of Engineers Cold Region Research Engineering Laboratory. This sampler was placed on board a UAS and flown into the plume of the oil burn to sample the emissions. Concurrent ground measurements were made by EPA and the Coast Guard Strike Team using various particle and gas sampling devices for the purpose of comparing aerial and ground measurements. As well, the EPA deployed an array of low cost particle sensors to compare with the Strike Team’s Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies (SMART) protocol. Emission factors for PM2.5 calculated from the UAS measurements were consistent with past data, showing decreasing PM2.5 values with improved oil combustion efficiencies. Combustion efficiencies did not show a relationship with oil consumption, verifying past results. All real time PM2.5 instruments measured considerably lower PM2.5 emissions than the primary filter catch standard. These instruments need to be calibrated with the plume smoke as the optical properties of the in situ oil burn (ISB) plume particles differ greatly from that of ambient air. Deployment of a high number of low cost sensors can provide a more comprehensive network of measurementsthan the limited number of more expensive SMART sensors.