The rates of emissions of fine particles from some Canadian coal-fired power plants

Particles emitted from three coal-fired power plants burning subbituminous coals from Alberta, Canada were examined for total particulate matter (PM) and size fractions PM>10, PM10, and PM2.5. The sampling was carried out following EPA Method 201A, which requires a 6 inch port. Three tests were performed at each station. The rates of emitted particulates from the three power plants are 9.9–53.4 mg/m3 (dry), 30–90 kg/hr (dry), and 0.039–0.118 kg/MWh, respectively. The emission rates of the various particle sizes for these three power plants are 8.7–39.5 kg/hr of PM>10, 10.7–40.8 kg/hr of PM10, and 9.65–10.7 kg/hr of PM2.5. The present results indicate that 29–44% of emitted particles are PM>10. The total emissions of particulates from two power plants are below the Canadian Guideline for emission from a coal-fired power plant (0.095 kg/MWh), while the third power plant is slightly higher than the Guideline (0.118 kg/MWh).The malfunctioning of control technology may result in unrealistic and wide variation in the measured rates of emitted particles.