Comparison of Fugitive Coal Dust Sizing Techniques

摘要

In conjunction with a field test program to measure fugitive dust emissions from a rotary railcar dumper, several techniques for particle sizing have been compared. The comparison experiments were done at Potomac Electric Power Company's coal-fired generating station at Morgantown, Maryland with support of the Maryland Power Plant Siting Program. Three cascade impactor instruments were compared, including a quartz crystal microbalance. In addition, two other methods, a 40mm millipore filter operated isokinetically and a rotary arm impactor, were used to obtain particulate samples for optical sizing from calibrated microphotographs. The microphotographs also provided information on coal particle shape, aggregation and friability. An aerodynamic particle sizer based on laser velocimetry was also used during one of three comparison tests. Two particle resuspension and sizing methods were attempted but abandoned due to experimental difficulties. Coal particle size and cumulative mass fraction size distributions for the various sampling techniques were compared.