Utah: Air Quality and Meteorological Monitoring
Project Summary |
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Application Description: Recording baseline air quality and meteorological data at proposed power plant sites Location: Utah, USA Products Used: HMP45C-L LI200X-L A21REL-12 Q7.1-L CS106 COM210 CS105 CR23X Contributors: William J. Hauze, Meteorological Solutions, Inc. Contracting Agencies: Various energy concerns Measured Parameters: Horizontal wind speed/direction, vertical wind speed, sigma theta of the wind direction, air temperature, delta temperature, solar radiation, net radiation, relative humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, sulfur dioxide, PM10, PM2.5 Controlled Equipment: Atmospheric gas samplers |
The past few years have seen a scramble within the power industry to use more of Utah's natural resources for electric power production. To secure the required permits to construct proposed facilities, power companies must model emissions from the proposed plant site using current meteorological and air quality data that are representative of onsite conditions. Meteorological Solutions, Inc. (MSI) installed and operated meteorological and air quality monitoring systems to characterize baseline conditions at proposed or existing power plant locations in Utah. A minimum of one year of valid data is required, and strict quality control measures are implemented to assure high data recovery. Data are collected and stored as 15-minute averages computed from 1-second values using a Campbell Scientific CR23X datalogger. A reliable landline or cellular telephone connection allows frequent interrogation of the installed dataloggers to retrieve data and confirm data validity. Campbell Scientific's Datalogger Software was used for data retrieval, real-time display of numeric values, and datalogger program modifications.
For all of these applications, meteorological sensors were either mounted on 50- or 100-meter towers. Wind and temperature sensors were boom-mounted on electrically powered instrument lift carriages at 100 or 50 meters and at 10 meters. This feature facilitated sensor access for periodic maintenance and semi-annual performance audits and eliminated the need to climb the towers. The tower sensor configuration included Met One 010C/020C sensors to measure wind speed and direction at 10 and 50 or 100 meters and R.M. Young RTD temperature probes with motor-aspirated shields at 2-, 10-, and 50- or 100-meter levels. This arrangement allowed for a variety of delta temperature calculations to satisfy different dispersion model input requirements. A Li-Cor LI200X measured solar radiation and a Vaisala CS105 measured barometric pressure.
Quality control for atmospheric gas sampling equipment may include periodic zero, span and precision checks. The checks can be activated by the CR23X control ports connected to an A21REL-12 relay driver and interfaced with the gas analyzer calibration system. Gas analyzers and calibrators with RS-232 connections to their microprocessors allow remote access via modem to their systems. At one air quality monitoring station, MSI used a code-activated switch for selectable telephone access of not only the CR23X but the gas monitoring equipment as well. This feature allowed real-time communication with the analyzer to view diagnostics and troubleshoot problems remotely.
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