Abstract |
Variability of particulate emissions from two pulverized-coal power plants was characterized over a 1 year period. Parameters evaluated for both total particles and 16 individual elements included volume concentrations, mass emission rates, enrichment factors, and size distributions. In general, variations over several weeks or more were much larger than those within a given day. Small particles were strongly enriched in As, Ba, Br, Cr, Se, Sb, and Zn. Concentrations of individual elements varied by as much as 10 times at a given particle size, and the extent of small particle enrichment varied greatly between individual samples. Compositional correlations among submicron particles suggest the importance of coal mineralogy and combustion chemistry in determining behavior. The two combustion units were generally similar in behavior, although the newer unit often emitted a factor of 3 less particulate mass with somewhat smaller particle size. (Copyright (c) Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. 1988.) |