Particulate Emissions from U.S. Department of Defense Artillery Backblast Testing

摘要

There is a dearth of information on dust emissions from sources that are unique to the U.S. Department of Defense testing and training activities. However, accurate emissions factors are needed for these sources so that military installations can prepare accurate particulate matter (PM) emission inventories. One such source, coarse and fine PM (PM_(10) and PM_(2.5)) emissions from artillery backblast testing on improved gun positions, was characterized at the Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, AZ, in October 2005. Fugitive emissions are created by the Shockwave from artillery pieces, which ejects dust from the surface on which the artillery is resting. Other contributions of PM can be attributed to the combustion of the propel-lants. For a 155-mm howitzer firing a range of propellant charges or zones, amounts of emitted PM_(10) ranged from ～19 g of PM_(10) per firing event for a zone 1 charge to 92 g of PM_(10) per firing event for a zone 5. The corresponding rates for PM_(2.5) were ～9 g of PM_(2.5) and 49 g of PM_(2.5) per firing. The average measured emission rates for PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) appear to scale with the zone charge value. The measurements show that the estimated annual contributions of PM_(10) (52.2 t) and PM_(2.5) (28.5 t) from artillery backblast are insignificant in the context of the 2002 U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) PM emission inventory. Using national-level activity data for artillery fire, the most conservative estimate is that backblast would contribute the equivalent of 5 X 10~(-4)% and 1.6 x 10~(-3)% of the annual total PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) fugitive dust contributions, respectively, based on 2002 EPA inventory data.