Monitoring, Sampling and Analysis of Fine Particulates atDOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory

摘要

In July 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised the National Ambient AirQuality Standards (US EPA, 1997) by setting limits on the concentration of ambient airparticulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5). As onecomponent of a comprehensive program to assess the impact that this stringent regulation willhave upon the future technology of fossil-fuel-fired electric power generation, the U.S.Department of Energy has established a state-of-the-art ambient air fine-particulate monitoringstation at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) facility in Pittsburgh (Andersonet al, in press). In particular, this research program is directed toward determining the methodand degree by which fossil-fuel-fired electric power generating stations contribute to theparticulate matter loading in ambient air.At the NETL sampling site and research laboratories, an investigation was conducted tocharacterize the organic and inorganic species that may be associated with high-temperature coalcombustion processes. Batch filter samples were analyzed in detail with a combination of highresolutionmass spectrometry (HRMS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) forsemi-volatile organics; computer controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) with energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to directly identify the abundance of different particletypes such as spherical alumino-silicates (SAS), crustal, carbonaceous, and sulfates; protoninduced X-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE) for bulk elemental analysis; and ionchromatography (IC) for common cations and anions.