Evaluating the Appropriateness of AP-42 Emission Factors

摘要

The use of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published emission factors (AP-42) is widespread in the field of air emissions estimating. Although these emission factors are easily accessible and convenient to use in their published form, they may not be the most appropriate factors for a source. Without knowing the background information with which the EPA-published emission factors were developed, emission estimates based only on the final published factor may be far from accurate. In extreme cases, the estimates derived from the use of published factors may incorrectly show a source to be non-compliant. A more wisely selected emission factor from the appropriate "Emission Factor Documentation for AP-42" report may not only yield a more accurate emission estimate, but also produce a more realistic assessment of a source's compliance status.