A Survey of Nitrogen-Oxides Control Technology and the Development of a Low NOx Emissions Combustor

1971 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Tomany ◽  
R. R. Koppang ◽  
H. L. Burge
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Nitrogen Oxides ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Stationary Combustion ◽  
Combustion Sources

The problem of NOx emissions reduction is gaining increased attention from those concerned with air pollution control activities. HEW proposes to issue criteria for the control of nitrogen oxides within the year. The Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District (LAAPCD) has already published regulations which limit emissions from combustion sources to a fixed rate of 140 lb/hr NOx. This is equivalent to an allowable emission concentration of about 20 ppm for a 500 MW power station. Two of the major contributors to oxides of nitrogen air pollution in the United States are Industrial Processes and Stationary Combustion Sources, both being responsible for over 50 percent of the total NOx emissions. Motor vehicles contribute the remainder for a total of 20 million tons per year. Although some advances have been made in the development of commercial control equipment for Industrial Process emissions, there is very little well-developed technology available for NOx emissions control from Stationary Combustion Sources. Two of the most promising areas being investigated are: • Stoichiometric variations of the air-fuel feed and partial recycling of the combustion products. • Advanced design of combustion equipment. The former system of control, in a test program with 17 commercial boilers, has been responsible for the reduction of NOx emissions from about 350–150 ppm. An advanced design combustor, operated at a heat release level of 105 Btu/hr, has produced NOx emission values of about 150 ppm. When coupled with simulated combustion gas recycle, the emissions were further reduced to 100 ppm. Although both the “stoichiometric” and “combustor” approach to the problem of NOx emissions represent a good beginning, greater efforts must be expended on these and other promising control techniques in preparation for future regulations.

Protecting Air Quality

2019 ◽  
pp. 154-188
Author(s):  
David Vogel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Mobile Source ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Regulatory Capacity

This chapter looks at the efforts to protect California's air quality. Public and business demands for automobile control in the United States originated in Los Angeles, and pollution controls for motor vehicles were essentially initiated by the state of California. Following a successful national political campaign that pitted the interests of California against the nation's automotive manufacturers, in 1967, Congress allowed California—and initially only California—to issue its own vehicle emissions standards. Thanks to the unique pollution problems of Los Angeles, the United States became and remains the only country to have two distinctive mobile-source pollution control standards. Many of the themes described throughout this book are illustrated in this chapter. These include the importance of both citizen mobilization and business support for stronger environmental regulations and the progressive development of the state's regulatory capacity, from the creation of the Smoke and Fumes Commission in Los Angeles in 1945 to the organization of air pollution control districts in 1947 and finally the establishment in 1968 of the California Air Resources Board.

ResearchandTest Facilitiesof the Los Angeles County Air Pollution Control District

1963 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-115
Author(s):  
S. Smith Griswold ◽  
Arthur A. Atkisson ◽  
Robert E. Neligan ◽  
Frank Bonamassa ◽  
Wallace Linville
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Los Angeles County ◽  
Air Pollution Control

THE ROLE OF GAS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Hanns F. Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen

The gases comprising the atmosphere are in dynamic balance both with the oceans and the dry land of the continents. The mechanisms which operate to keep the atmospheric content of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and sulphur constant are now well defined. The capacity of the system to absorb excess gaseous impurities is adequate on a global basis with the exception of carbon dioxide.Air pollution is thus a local problem resulting from the overloading of a particular air space with contaminants. The greater part of air pollution is due to the combustion of fossil fuels. Ease of control and virtual freedom from sulphur give natural gas an advantage over liquid and solid fuels as far as air pollution control is concerned. Oxides of nitrogen are produced when natural gas is burned but in smaller quantities than in the combustion of other fuels. In high capacity industrial gas burners where oxides of nitrogen may be generated in large quantities control is easier and can achieve a lower level of oxides of nitrogen than is the case with other fuels.The large scale use of natural gas to solve the air pollution problems of Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and many other cities is proof of the usefulness of gas in this respect. Specialised applications include use in incinerators and industrial after burners. Advances in removal of impurities from fuels and of air pollutants from products of combustion combined with rising gas prices will in time displace gas from its preeminent position in air pollution control. It is, however, likely to retain its advantage in small installations and in dense urban areas. In public and private transport its use will probably remain limited.While technological developments in the distant future may eventually displace fossil fuels, gas will have a large share of the fuel market until that day comes and will contribute effectively to the control of air pollution.

scholarly journals Two Cheers for Air Pollution Control: Triumphs and Limits of the Mid-Century Fight for Air Quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merlin Chowkwanyun
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Local Experience ◽  
The Us ◽  
Clean Air

This article analyzes the early years of 20th-century air pollution control in Los Angeles. In both scholarship and public memory, mid-century efforts at the regional level were overshadowed by major federal developments, namely the Clean Air Act and creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Yet the mid-century local experience was highly consequential and presaged many subsequent challenges that persist today. The article begins with an exploration of the existential, on-the-ground misery of smog in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 1950s. The article examines the role that scientific evidence on smog did and did not play in regulation, the reasons smog control galvanized support across various constituencies in the region, and, finally, some of mid-century air pollution’s limits.

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