Transmissometer Measurement of Participate Emissions from a Jet Engine Test Facility

Abstract

A number of pollution control authorities consider aircraft turbine engines operated in a static test bed to be stationary sources, therefore, subject to standards similar to those applicable to power plants or stationary gas turbines. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declined to set emission standards for turbojet engine test cells, at this time, leaving the matter to state and local agencies. Standards currently applied to stationary sources usually include plume visibility and particulate emission limits. Local standards vary, but 20% opacity is the strictest and most widely applied figure. The EPA further requires that an approved and certified continuous plume opacity monitor be installed. If the mass emission rate could be correlated with plume opacity, then the opacity monitoring system could be used to monitor mass emissions as well, thereby eliminating the need for periodic gravimetric sampling and laboratory analysis of particulate emissions. Additional benefits of such a system include: (1) a continuous record for control authority inspection; (2) capability to determine time averaged emission rates; (3) automatic warning or feedback to control equipment (to avoid exceeding standards). Many industrial plants, primarily in Europe, monitor their emissions using an optical transmissometer. If properly calibrated, this instrument can provide bothmore » opacity and particulate emission data. Good correlation has been obtained between opacity and particulate mass concentration in systems employing efficient pollution control equipment.« less