NOx Emission Factors Robert Fowler ME 449: Sustainable Air Quality April 2001

Table of Contents Objective of work Major contributors for NOx emissions Example emission factor calculations State source of data used Why?

Objective The purpose of this report is to show how emission inventories are obtained through calculations of emission factors in conjunction with fuel sources.

Major NOx Contributors There are three major contributors to the creation of NOx emissions Transportation - gas and diesel vehicles Fuel Combustion - power plants Industrial Processes - waste disposal/petroleum refinery

Sample Calculations To determine the amount of emission you get from a source, you have to take into consideration two factors: The emission factor The fuel used EF * fuel mass = Emission Inventory

Source of Data The source of the data used is from the EPA AP-42 5th ed. Vols. I (Chapters 1-5, 11) and II (Appendix G).

As for the emission factor rating found in the AP-42, it is how accurate the emission factor for the given source of emission is to the true value. A being very close and E being not.

This is important to know so that we can see if we are getting better at reducing the amount of NOx emissions in our atmosphere.

Summary The major contributors of NOx emissions How emission inventory is determined Where data came from Why?

Conclusion There are some sources of NOx emissions that are still way too high. Yet there seem to have been remarkable strides in reducing some of these over time. We just need to drive ourselves harder to help fix the problem. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Recommendations Look over the data and see where some of the controls added to try and clean the pollutant from the emission is actually doing more harm than good. Try to cut down on the amount of production of fuel sources that needs to be burned to be used.