Field evaluation of a method for estimating gaseous fluxes from area sources using open-path Fourier transform infrared.
Environ Sci Technol
; 35(11): 2309-13, 2001 Jun 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11414037
ABSTRACT
This paper describes results from the first field experiment designed to evaluate a new approach for quantifying gaseous fugitive emissions of area air pollution sources. The approach combines path-integrated concentration data acquired with any path-integrated optical remote sensing (PI-ORS) technique and computed tomography (CT) technique. In this study, an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) instrument sampled path-integrated concentrations along five radial beam paths in a vertical plane downwind from the source. A meteorological station collected measurements of wind direction and wind speed. Nitrous oxide (N2O) was released from a controlled area source simulator. The innovative CT technique, which applies the smooth basis function minimization method to the beam data in conjunction with measured wind data, was used to estimate the total flux from the simulated area source. The new approach estimates consistently underestimated the true emission rates in unstable atmospheric conditions and agreed with the true emission rate in neutral atmospheric conditions. This approach is applicable to many types of industrial areas or volume sources, given the use of an adequate PI-ORS system.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Environmental Monitoring
/
Air Pollution
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Evaluation_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Environ Sci Technol
Year:
2001
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States