CleanAir Engineering Equipment and Covanta Energy

Mr. Bill Walker from CleanAir(R) Engineering has coordinated a donation of equipment from their Houston, Texas office. Instead of using EPA method 5, he suggests to use EPA Method 17. He says it is easier and unless you have free moisture (water droplets) in your stack gas it will give accurate non-condensible particulate data. The 2 major differences are that the particulate filter is in the stack instead of a temperature controlled oven and the sample gas moisture is removed in a series of water knockout jars instead of special glassware. (See pictures below)
Mr. Walker is also sending a list of materials necessary to use the equipment successfully. CleanAir(R) Engineering's kind donation, support in this research, and SPEED at which they are assisting this project is as if they were getting paid top dollar. Several other companies were contacted about donations, but have yet to call back. CleanAir(R) Engineering's committment to service learning projects and international environmental research is clearly above and beyond.

In order to learn how to operate the equipment, a trip to Covanta Energy facility in Delaware Valley is being coordinated between Mr. Walker, project engineers, and myself. They are supplying me with all of the necessary safety equipment to entire the site and see their operation in progress. Covanta is also committed to sustainability issues around the globe. I encourage you to visit their site and take their "Take a Wild Guess" quiz at: http://www.covantaholding.com/site/locations/covanta-delaware.html

CleanAir Engineering Donation to URECA! Project

CleanAir® Engineering Equipment
Due to the exuberant costs of air monitoring equipment and the training necessary to operate them properly, purchasing this equipment was not a possible solution. However, CleanAir Engineering was contacted about donating equipment that would be useful in this project. The president of the company, Bill Walker, said he was interested in possibly donating equipment. He has scheduled time out of his schedule as the Presidnt of CleanAir Engineering to give a video tutorial on the equipmentand is willing to send the project operator of this equipment, Jacqueline Bell, to one of CleanAir’s projects to get hands-on training for using the equipment in the field. The equipment supplied will collect an isokinetic sample of emissions under EPA method 5 regulations.
An isokinetic sample is achieved when the gas enters the sampling nozzle at exactly the same velocity and direction as the gas traveling in the stack. If the sampling velocity is less than the isokinetic rate, the emission will be underestimated due to emitted particle size. The flow of the smoke emitted will be faster than the sampling rate and go around the nozzle, only allowing larger particles with greater inertias than the smaller particles to enter. The opposite situation would occur if the sampling velocity is greater than the isokinetic rate.
EPA METHOD 5 OVERVIEW:
“Determination of Particulate Matter Emissions from Stationary Sources”
Note: This method will be used with equipment donated by CleanAir Engineering. This segment will provide an overview of the EPA sampling method 5. However, in order to use the equipment in the field a video tutorial will be given, a manual on how to use the equipment will be supplied, and the operator will gain hands-on training while at a CleanAir Engineering project. A thorough knowledge of EPA methods 1,2, and 3 are also suggested by the EPA.
Summary of Method:
Particulate matter is withdrawn isokinetically from the source and collected on a glass fiber filter maintained at a temperature of 120 +or- 14 degrees C (248 +or- 25 degrees F) or such other temperature as specified by the Administrator for a particular application. The PM mass, which includes any material that condenses at or above the filtration temperature, is determined gravimetrically after the removal of uncombined water.

This project is an Engineers Without Borders - University of Vermont student chapter project working in partnership with the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at the University of Vermont. Much of the research on emissions methods and testing will be conducted under an undergraduate research grant, the URECA! scholarship, by Jacqueline Bell.

More information on the details of this project will be supplied at a later date.