Method for Estimating Size-Specific Particulate Emission Inventories

Increasing evidence on the detrimental health effects of suspended fine particulates has prompted the introduction of new ambient air quality standards for particles with diameters smaller than 2.5 and/or 10 μm and has created the need for size-specific inventories. To address this need, “generic” cumulative weight fraction data have been fitted with lognormal particle size distributions, and the resulting mean diameter d_m and standard deviation σ_g values compiled for many sources of practical interest. In addition, nomographs are developed for assessing the mass fraction of particles with diameters <2.5, 6, 10, 15, and 30 μm as a function of the applicable d_m and σ_g. The above data and tools allow easy extension of total particulate matter emission inventories for uncontrolled sources into size-specific ones. Supplemented with published typical efficiencies of control systems in the ranges 0–2.5, 2.5–6, and 6–10 μm, they also allow easy compilation of approximate size-specific inventories for controlled sources. In addition, used in conjunction with graphical models for selected control systems that predict the total efficiency and lognormal size distribution of penetrating particles, they offer a unique rigorous approach for size-specific inventories from controlled sources.