Use of an unmanned aircraft system to quantify NO _x emissions from a natural gas boiler.

ABSTRACT: Aerial emission sampling of four natural gas boiler stack plumes was conducted using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) equipped with a lightweight sensor-sampling system (the "Kolibri") for measurement of nitrogen oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and carbon monoxide (CO). Flights (n=22) ranged from 11 to 24min in duration at two different sites. The UAS was maneuvered into the plumes with the aid of real-time CO₂ telemetry to the ground operators and, at one location, a second UAS equipped with an infrared-visible camera. Concentrations were collected and recorded at 1Hz. The maximum CO₂, CO, NO, and NO₂ concentrations in the plume measured were 10000, 7, 27, and 1.5 ppm, respectively. Comparison of the NO _x emissions between the stack continuous emission monitoring systems and the UAS-Kolibri for three boiler sets showed an average of 5.6% and 3.5% relative difference for the run-weighted and carbon-weighted average emissions, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of the accuracy performance of UAS-based emission factors against a source of known strength.

SUBMITTER: Gullett B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8193813 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature