Studies on online measurement and modeling of PM2 5 and PM10 released from the coal fired boilers

Abstract

The prime focus of the research was to carry out online measurement and validation of PM2.5 and PM10 released through stationary sources, which are more hazardous to human beings as fine particulate because they are easily inhaled and accumulated in the respiratory system. Preliminary studies were conducted to validate and establish a relationship between the online laser scattering method (OLSM) and the beta attenuation method (BAM) for ambient air monitoring. The instruments were placed under identical conditions as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines to measure PM2.5 and PM10 in ambient air. The daily and weekly trend analyses of PM2.5 and PM10 were measured every 1 minute and 1-hour employing OLSM and BAM, respectively. The preliminary studies estimated a good relationship between the OLSM and BAM for the correlation coefficient of 0.9818 with an R2 value is 0.9639 for PM2.5. Simila,rly relationship between the OLSM and BAM for the correlation coefficient of 0.966 with an R2 value is 0.9332 for PM10. The studies proved that OLSM may be an alternative to BAM for ambient air monitoring and can produce reliable real-time particulate matter measurement. Further, PM, PM2.5, and PM10 released through the stationary sources were measured using Particle Size Distribution Method (PSDM), USEPA 201a, and OLSM to establish the relationship between PM to PM2.5 and PM to PM10 because the existing norms are in terms of PM in India. In addition, to check the effect of air pollution control equipment on the size of particles removed, a particle size analyzer was used to analyze the samples withdrawn from locations such as before cyclone, after cyclone and after Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP). It is observed that as air pollution control measures increased from the cyclone to ESP, the mass fraction of PM2.5 and PM10 has increased because the cyclone separator removes larger particles than PM2.5 and PM10 and ESP newlineVIII newlineremoves the remaining larger particles along with smaller particles. As a resul