Measurement of Airborne Pollutants

303 Pages·1993·6.44 MB·English

by  Suzanne Couling (Eds.)

Measurement of Airborne
Pollutants
Editor:
Suzanne Couling
s l U T T E R W O R TH
E I N E M A N N
Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
fsJ A member of the Reed Elsevier group
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TOKYO TORONTO WELLINGTON
First published 1993
© Department of Trade and Industry 1993
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Measurement of Airborne Pollutants
I. Couling, Suzanne
628.5
ISBN 0 7506 0885 4
Printed and bound in Great Britain
Preface
The goal of environmentally sustainable development requires sound
management of the atmosphere at a local, regional and global scale. The
availability and quality of air pollution measurements is clearly critical to the
success of this process. Yet these measurements stretch present technical
capability to its limits because excellent sensitivity, specificity and robustness
are often needed to allow a proper understanding of the condition of the
atmosphere, the processes within it, and the impact on it of various
emissions. Thus the development of air pollution measurements is central to
progress in the formulation of environmental policy, the efficient regulation
of emissions, and the satisfactory control of processes which emit pollutants
into the atmosphere.
It was against this background that the National Measurement System
Policy Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry commissioned Warren
Spring Laboratory to undertake a programme of work on air pollution
measurements. The results of this programme, which began in October 1989
and finished in September 1992, were presented at the symposium which
this volume records.
At the present time there is a rapid expansion in both the number and
variety of air pollution measurements being made. The emphasis here is on
those which present particular problems and which are required to either
provide sounder close-to-ground air quality data, or, to quantify stack and
fugitive emissions. The purpose is to report improvements in methodolgy,
traceability and harmonization. The effectiveness of sampling is given
special prominence because this is generally recognized to be one of the
weakest links in the measurement chain for air pollution.
A number of organizations and many individuals have contributed to this
volume and the work it describes; Warren Spring Laboratory wishes to
record its thanks to them. Among those deserving of special mention are the
National Measurement System Policy Unit who commissioned the
programme, colleagues at other institutions who have contributed to this
volume and to the programme in general, Suzanne Couling—who has
brought care and diligence to the role of editor, and Duncan Enright of
Butterworth Heinemann Ltd who has patiently advised and encouraged us.
Mark Kibblewhite
Warren Spring Laboratory
Contributors
B R Bushby
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
P Clayton
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
J L Cocksedge
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
P Coleman
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
JCox
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
B J Davis
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
A L Dennis
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
G S Driver
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
S Eaton
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
I Fängmark
Institute of Environmental Chemistry, University of Urnea, S-901 87 Urnea,
Sweden
A R Fernandes
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
Contributors ix
D J Hall
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
J G Irwin
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
M Kendall
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
M G Kibblewhite
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
J E Lampert
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
S Marklund
Institute of Environmental Chemistry, University of Umeâ, S-901 87 Urnea,
Sweden
G W Marsland
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
C Rappe
Institute of Environmental Chemistry, University of Urnea, S-901 87 Urnea,
Sweden
W Rudolf
Umweltbundesamt, Germany
C Schofield
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
B Sevruk
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Zentrum, 8092 Zurich, Switzer-
land
K J Stevenson
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
B H Stone
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
x Contributors
M Tysklind
Institute of Environmental Chemistry, University of Umeâ, S-901 87 Urnea,
Sweden
S L Upton
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
A van der Meulen
National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Air
Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 1-3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
D S Walker
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
D S Wallace
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
J Wilken
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
M Williams
Warren Spring Laboratory, Department of Trade and Industry, Gunnels
Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SGI 2BX.
1
Introduction
M. Williams
Over the past decade, environmental issues have become of increasing
concern to the public at large and consequently to governments, regulators
and pollution control authorities. Air pollution is no exception to this trend,
indeed issues such as acidification, global climate change, photochemical
pollution and urban air quality have all moved into the forefront of the
environmental agenda in recent years.
Even before this increased interest, of course, the need for traceable
measurements of high quality has always existed. However with more
attention being focused on air pollution issues, and with an increasing
amount of legislation on the subject, this need becomes more and more
important. The results of air pollution measurement programmes are thus
being used in an increasing number of areas, and comparisons with other
data and with regulatory limits are being made. These requirements mean
that, to an increasing degree, air pollution measurements should be made
using methods which are well characterized in terms of precision and
accuracy, specificity for the pollutant in question, reliability and limitations.
Operational protocols and calibration procedures need to be well defined
and documented, and calibration standards need to be traceable to
accredited bodies.
Despite the amount of atmospheric measurements which have been
undertaken in the past few decades, much remains to be done in this area.
New pollutants emerge for which new measurement methods are developed
(or vice versa!), or new techniques are developed for measuring 'traditional·
pollutants more accurately, more efficiently or at lower levels than was
previously possible. The present 'workshop' was convened to present some
of the results of a programme of research, funded by the National
Measurement System Policy Unit of the UK Department of Trade and
Industry, designed to ensure that airborne pollutant measurements can be
made with the traceability and harmonization needed to bring them within
the National Measurement System.
Following an introductory keynote paper from Dr Werner Rudolf, three
papers are presented which deal with operational evaluations of emerging
techniques for ambient measurements of airborne particles and for low levels
of nitrogen dioxide. Calibration techniques for automatic analyses or for gas
cylinders obtained from commercial suppliers are considered in Stewart
Eaton's paper.
4 Ambient air quality
Fundamental issues in the measurement of acid deposition are covered by
three papers. The first two deal with the measurement of precipitation,
checking gauge performance and analysing and improving the aerodynamic
design of precipitation collectors. The third deals with the use of simulated
solutions for quality control of the chemical analysis of rainwater samples.
2
Continuous air pollution
measurements on a national and
world-wide scale
W Rudolf
2.1 Abstract
The content of this paper is mainly concerned with quality assurance of air
pollution networks operated in Germany, other countries within the
Commission of European Communities (CEC) and those within the frame
of UNEP/WHO (GEMS). Quality assurance is regulated by national and
international guidelines. The national programmes of CEC member
countries have to be in line with the regulations of CEC, where guidelines
exist, i.e. for S0 , black smoke, total suspended particles (TSP), N0 and
2 2
lead. Since the GEMS programme is under the supervision of both UNEP
and WHO, either WHO guidelines or ISO guidelines regulate the quality
assurance programmes.
2.2 Measuring networks in Germany
In Germany there are 13 fully installed air pollution networks. The so-called
'New Länder' are in the process of putting five other networks into operation
within the next 2 years. From these 18 networks, 17 are under the
responsibility of the Länder Governments and one is under the responsi-
bility of the Federal Environmental Agency. These networks operate more
than 400 different stations, the bulk of which are equipped with
continuously operating monitors for the measurement of SO2, CO, NO,
N0 , TSP, O3 and total hydrocarbons (excluding methane).
2
The task of this monitoring is to assess air pollution to fulfil German and
CEC requirements for the surveillance and abatement of air pollution in the
long term and for the purposes of smog alerts. During a smog episode, of
elevated SO2 concentrations in winter or O3 in summer, the normally
independent networks exchange their data for the use in an early smog alert
system. This, together with a meteorological forecasting system, aims to
provide early information on transboundary transport of pollutants and a
better understanding of the processes of air pollution chemistry during such
transport. The resulting smog charts of measured and forecast concentra-
tions are distributed automatically, via a computer system, back to the
6 Ambient air quality
operators of the networks. Intensive co-operation with the neighbours of
Germany (BeNeLux, France, Austria, Switzerland and the eastern neigh-
bours Poland and CSFR) will hopefully lead to a combination of these
networks for monitoring transboundary air pollution. The larger scale of
photochemical smog formation with its complex chemical reactions suggests
extending such an early alert system to the whole of Europe including the
UK. In particular, since the channel tunnel will possibly be ready in 1993,
transboundary and air pollution transport will reach new dimensions. An
example of the type of information such a system can create is shown in
Figure 2.1. It is obvious that such an information system can be of
considerable help to the national authorities in deciding appropriate
measures for minimizing smog situations.
2.3 Trends in air pollution concentration in Germany
When discussing the possible connection of networks, the cost-benefit
relation has to be considered. One aspect to be considered is the trend of the
most important air pollutants, such as suspended particles S0 , CO, NO
2 x
and O3, during the recent years.
Computed
14.12 90 12 UHR 15.12 90 12 UHR 16.12.90 0 UHR
Measured
14.12.90 12 UHR 15.12.90 12 UHR 16.12.90 0 UHR
HU £ 200μο m-3 - » 100 ng m-3 - = 50 μ$ m"3 - = 25 μρ m-3 · = 10 [ig m"3
Figure 2.1 Computed and measured S0 concentrations, Germany, December
2
1990