How To Evaluate Visible Emissions In The Field

By Robert Richardson


Some chemical and even physical process produce some type of airborne particles which are usually regarded to as visible releases. These particles are connected to some of the respiratory particles and their opacity is actually used to measure these type of releases. The opacity is usually examined by use of visual assessment which uses a stopwatch. Smoke and possibly dust tend to form the biggest part of visible emissions.

The most common types of these kind of releases are smoke and dust as well. Mostly these kind of releases comprise of several particulate matter which ranges from the finest particles of about one tenth to two hundred micrometers. These particles are usually categorized into dust, fly ash, soot, fumes, liquid droplets and smoke as well.

Another method is the Idaho visible exhausts limit. This method or procedure is basically located in DEQs techniques, handbook for air pollution control. The procedures of this method tend to look similar to those contained in the EPA method 9. Both of these methods are designed with an aim of describing the necessities for both training and testing opacity viewers, steps to be followed as well as recording of data while documenting the observations.

These kind of particles have been associated with numerous health problems which they tend to pose to human. Some of these problems include respiratory and breathing system effects, cardiovascular as well as the aggravation of the existing respiratory, body defense alteration, damages in the lung tissue, premature death and carcinogenesis among other problems. The particulate matter can have numerous effect on trees, shrubs and other types of crops.

This particulate matter has the capacity of causing injuries to trees, crops as well as shrubs. It has the capacity of damaging some type of surfaces like the fabrics and metals as well. The fine particles can impair visibility as it usually scatters light thus minimizing the visual range in rural, urban and wilderness area as well. The first tool which was developed to measure these visible releases was the Ringelmann chart which was established in the late 1800s.

Another measurement method is the use of Ringelmann chart. This was the first tool which was developed so as to measure the observation and it came into use in the late 1800s. In the United States of America this tool got introduced in 1897. The tool then became accepted later in major cities, states together with federal regulation on the density of smoke. This tool was meant to measure the black smoke density but with time it was adopted in measuring the gray, white as well as other colors of smoke.

This tool is constructed on the premise that the greater the particulate matter in the atmosphere then the more likelihood the cloud of smoke will be which would significantly inhibit light penetration and henceforth visibility is minimized. Percentage is normally used to simply measure plume opacity. This means that the higher the opacity then the plume background is expected to be accompanied by lesser visibility.

Another method which is used in determination of opacity is the Idahos method. This methods procedure is set up in the DEQs procedures manual for air pollution control. You actually find that these procedures are almost identical to those which are confined in EPA reference method nine.




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