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Emission Measurements from Thermal Decontamination of Potentially Explosive Materials: Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division
Citation:
Aurell, J. AND B. Gullett. Emission Measurements from Thermal Decontamination of Potentially Explosive Materials: Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division. ESTCP, Arlington, VA, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
This report addresses the potential benefit of using a propane-fired technology to replace current practice for disposal of “material potentially presenting an explosive hazard” or MPPEH. This report describes tests that were conducted to measure emissions from an open propane fire and a wood pallet stack. Successful implementation of the propane technology is expected to reduce environmental air pollution. This report would be of interest to persons required to disposal of materials using open burn methods.
Description:
The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) uses a thermal method to decontaminate items that are potentially contaminated with trace amounts of energetics. These materials are termed “material potentially presenting an explosive hazard” or MPPEH. In their current thermal method, they use open-air incineration using an array of stacked wooden pallets as the fuel source. As an alternative fuel source, NSWC IHD is looking to use an array of propane-fueled burner nozzles. The objective of this study was to compare emissions from the current practice using pallet piles with the alternative proposed practice of using a propane-fueled burner. The emission characterization from the two fuel sources was undertaken by U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD). ORD used their in-house developed light-weight battery-powered and remotely controlled sampling equipment called the “Kolibri” to measure CO2, CO, PM2.5 (particulate matter of mass median diameter 2.5 µm or less), Black Carbon (BC), total carbon/organic carbon/elemental carbon (TC/OC/EC), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the plumes of the two fuel sources. The Kolibri package was attached to the body of an unmanned aerial system (UAS) owned and operated by University of Maryland (UMD) UAS Test Site. UMD’s UAS operator maneuvered the sampling equipment into the plume with guidance from the Kolibri’s operator who monitored real-time temperature and CO2 levels. Two propane burns and one pallet pile burn were conducted. One PM2.5 and one TC/OC/EC batch sample was collected for each burn. A single, composite sample for VOCs was collected from the two propane burns in order to ensure collection of sufficient sample to obtain detectable levels. The first propane burn ignited the adjacent pallet pile within a few minutes of the propane ignition. As a result, the PM2.5 and OC/EC/TC batch samples collected from the first propane burn were excluded from the results. The propane burner had a lower modified combustion efficiency (MCE, CO2/(CO2 + CO)) than the burning pallet piles, 0.975 compared to 0.992. Due to the wood’s lower energy value the CO2 emission factor in g CO2/kWh fuel from the wood pallet pile burn was almost two times higher than from the propane burner. The CO emission factor was two times higher from the propane burner than the wood pallet pile burn. It’s not clear from the limited tests whether this was an operational issue. The PM2.5 and BC emission factors on an energy basis were, respectively, approximately 14 and 26 times less for the propane burner than the pallet pile burn. The propane PM2.5 emission factor on a fuel mass basis was in the same range as previous, similar measurements. The benzene emission factor from the wood pallet burn was three times higher than the propane burner. However, the propane burner emitted surprisingly high emissions of methylene chloride and of other chlorinated VOCs not found from previous similar measurements. These higher chlorinated VOC emissions may be a byproduct of the natural gas and crude oil refining where chlorides occur naturally or due to trace chemicals from fracking processes.
URLs/Downloads:
EMISSION MEASUREMENTS FROM THERMAL DECONTAMINATION OF POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS: NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER INDIAN HEAD DIVISION. PDF