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J Air Waste Manag Assoc

Title:		Near-source air quality impacts of large olefin flares
Author(s):		Olaguer EP;
Address:		"Houston Advanced Research Center, 4800 Research Forest Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77381, USA. eolaguer@harc.edu"
Journal Title:		J Air Waste Manag Assoc
Year:		2012
Volume:		62
Issue:		8
Page Number:		978 - 988
DOI:		10.1080/10962247.2012.693054
ISSN/ISBN:		1096-2247 (Print) 1096-2247 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Large petrochemicalflares, common in the Houston Ship Channel (the Ship Channel) and other industrialized areas in the Gulfof Mexico region, emit hundreds to thousands of pounds per hour of highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs). We employedfine horizontal resolution (200 mx200 m) in a three-dimensional (3D) Eulerian chemical transport model to simulate two historical Ship Channel flares. The model reasonably reproduced the observed ozone rise at the nearest monitoring stations downwind of the flares. The larger of the two flares had an olefin emission rate exceeding 1400 lb/hr. In this case, the model simulated a rate of increase in peak ozone greater than 40 ppb/hr over a 12 kmx12 km horizontal domain without any unusual meteorological conditions. In this larger flare, formaldehyde emissions typically neglected in official inventories enhanced peak ozone by as much as 16 ppb and contributed over 10 ppb to ambient formaldehyde up to approximately 8 km downwind of the flare. The intense horizontal gradients in large flare plumes cannot be simulated by coarse models typically used to demonstrate ozone attainment. Moreover even the relatively dense monitoring network in the Ship Channel may not be able to detect many transient high ozone events (THOEs) caused by industrial flare emissions in the absence of stagnant air recirculation or stalled sea breeze fronts, even though such conditions are unnecessary for the occurrence of THOEs"
Keywords:		"Air Pollutants/*chemistry Alkenes/*chemistry Atmosphere Computer Simulation Fires Gulf of Mexico Models, Theoretical Volatile Organic Compounds/*chemistry;"
Notes:		"MedlineOlaguer, Eduardo P eng 2012/08/25 J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2012 Aug; 62(8):978-88. doi: 10.1080/10962247.2012.693054"