James A. Jahnke - Continuous Emission Monitoring

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Jahnke, J. A. (James A.), author.

Title: Continuous emission monitoring / James A. Jahnke.

Description: Third edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021050361 (print) | LCCN 2021050362 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119433989 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119433996 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119434023 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Continuous emission monitoring.

Classification: LCC TD890 .J34 2022 (print) | LCC TD890 (ebook) | DDC 628.5/30287–dc23/eng/20211115

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021050361LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021050362

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © Cover illustration art by John M. Havel

To Gloria

This third edition to Continuous Emission Monitoring comes 20 years after the second edition was published. Over that period, more sources in more industries have been required to monitor a wider range of pollutants at ever‐decreasing emission levels. To meet the challenges of more stringent regulatory programs, both monitoring technology and the management systems necessary to maintain them have developed to the point where accurate and precise emissions data can be obtained at the lowest ranges specified by regulatory agencies. The evolution of monitoring regulation and the technology necessary to support it are based on programs initiated in the 1970s and 1980s. These programs were described in the first and second editions of Continuous Emission Monitoring , which have provided a foundation for those newly entering or those needing to gain perspective of the field. This third edition extends that foundation to later programs implemented in the 1990s and 2000s. In the 1990s, continuous emission monitoring (CEM) systems were applied to support the determination of emission “allowances,” in the U.S. acid rain cap and trade program. Later, in the 2000s, regulatory programs for NO xemissions, mercury, volatile and “air toxics,” semi‐volatile organic and inorganic compounds were instituted, leading to significant challenges for the monitoring community. This book focuses on continuous emission monitoring requirements promulgated in the United States, although monitoring rules developed in Canada and the European Union are addressed where appropriate.

Continuous emission monitoring involves the sum of activities associated with determining and reporting pollutant emissions from stationary sources. Coal‐ and oil‐fired power plants, municipal and hazardous waste incinerators, petroleum refineries, cement plants, Kraft pulp mills, and, now, many chemical process industries are required to monitor emissions on a continuous basis. The emissions data obtained provide a continuous record that can be used by environmental control agencies to support a variety of regulatory programs. First used to monitor the operation of air pollution control equipment, regulatory applications have extended in the United States to use CEM systems for determining the compliance of stationary sources with their emission limitations. For CEM data to be credible, one cannot rely only on instrumentation. The implementation of a plant‐level quality assurance program, based on routine quality control procedures, has been found essential for data credibility. As a result, CEM quality assurance and quality control have become integral to CEM regulation.

One of the purposes of this book is to provide an understanding of both the regulatory and technical issues that must be considered when making decisions about CEM systems. As regulatory applications are extended, CEM system data are being used increasingly for process control and optimization. Although the use of CEM systems for determining compliance with pollutant emission limits has been the driving force for their installation, the benefits of knowing what and how much of something is being emitted are becoming more widely recognized. Here, the adage that “if you can measure it, you can control it” has led to the acceptance of CEM systems by managers who understand that CEM systems can be used for more than just meeting environmental regulations – that a knowledge of emission rates can also be used to optimize plant operations.

The earlier editions of this book have continued to serve as a resource for training programs, the development of quality assurance plans, and the drafting of technical specifications for monitoring system purchases. It is a characteristic of U.S. environmental programs, that once written, regulations do not go away. In some cases they may be revised, but in others, they remain static. Continuous emission monitoring requirements have accordingly remained relatively unchanged over the past four decades. U.S. CEM requirements have remained basically the same since their inception in the 1970s, seeing only their greatest alteration with the allowance trading programs implemented in the 1990s. In terms of technology, extractive sampling methods, in situ monitoring, the principles of light absorption and light scattering, and other analytical methods applied in the monitoring instrumentation are fundamental; providing the basis for understanding the operation of instruments that typically remain installed from 15 to 30 years. However, much has been learned over the past 20 years and an update of the second edition is needed to provide a current perspective of the field. In particular, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency institutes new rules and requirements as required by the periodic amendment of the Clean Air Act. These new rules are added to extend control over a wider range of industries for a wider range of pollutants. This edition of Continuous Emission Monitoring addresses these rules and the technology applied to meet them.

This book examines the interplay of technology and regulation as it affects the design, application, and certification of CEM systems. It describes new techniques employed in emissions monitoring, adds new knowledge gained on existing methods, but excludes instrumentation that is no longer available commercially. Chapters on the measurement of air toxics, mercury, and greenhouse gases have been added. The chapter on air toxics discusses monitoring instrumentation and methods used to measure hazardous air pollutants regulated under 40 CFR 63, the so‐called MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) program. Monitoring for mercury is also required under this rule; however, due to the complexity of both the monitoring technology, calibration methods, and certification requirements, a separate chapter is devoted to this topic. A chapter on greenhouse gas monitoring has also been added. Monitoring greenhouse gases is relatively straightforward; however, data quality is paramount in this area of measurement. The role of CEM systems in greenhouse gas reporting is discussed in relation to the use of mass balance, emission factors, and other estimates to provide perspectives in reporting and certifying greenhouse gas information.