Oleh Azman Zakaria
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata, usaha menangani fenomena perubahan iklim perlu menjadi keutamaan semua negara kerana kegagalan membendung gejala itu akan membawa bahaya kepada kehidupan manusia sejagat pada masa depan.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata, fenomena itu adalah nyata dan mempunyai kesan meluas, manakala usaha menanganinya memerlukan tindakan sepadu serta sepakat sama ada dalam sesebuah negara mahupun global.
“Oleh kerana bumi adalah satu-satunya tempat tinggal manusia, berdiam diri dengan hanya menjadi penonton tanpa mengendahkannya bukan satu pilihan.
“Kita dikurniakan alam sekitar dan iklim yang membolehkan generasi kita hidup dalam keadaan sihat, bermakna dan produktif. Oleh itu adalah menjadi tanggungjawab moral kita untuk menyerahkan dunia yang sihat dan sesuai bagi kehidupan kepada generasi akan datang,” katanya ketika merasmikan Persidangan Serantau Mengenai Perubahan Iklim di sini, semalam.
Beliau berkata, adalah penting untuk mengakui hakikat bahawa negara memberi komitmen kepada usaha menangani perubahan iklim pada peringkat antarabangsa hanya jika usaha yang dilakukan itu selaras dengan kepentingan mereka.
Justeru, katanya, tahap pembangunan, keutamaan pembangunan, sumber semula jadi dan struktur politik mempengaruhi sama ada mereka berupaya melaksanakan usaha menangani perubahan iklim.
Katanya, ia bermakna sasaran yang berbeza perlu ditentukan supaya semua negara boleh membabitkan diri secara aktif manakala semua program pembangunan, terutama di negara membangun mesti mengambil kira aspek perubahan iklim.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata, usaha untuk memajukan kedudukan ekonomi dan sosial serta dengan matlamat untuk membasmi kemiskinan akan secara serentak berupaya menangani masalah pelepasan gas rumah hijau.
“Bagaimanapun usaha pada peringkat nasional seperti itu memerlukan sokongan pada peringkat antarabangsa oleh negara maju menerusi bantuan bina upaya, pemindahan teknologi dan bantuan kewangan kepada negara membangun,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, perubahan iklim bukan saja menyebabkan cuaca melampau, tetapi mempunyai kesan negatif terhadap pertanian, kepelbagaian biologi, hutan, air bersih dan meningkatkan kes penyakit seperti malaria dan denggi.
Katanya, ia turut menyebabkan kawasan rendah dilanda banjir seperti dialami Malaysia pada Disember 2005 dan 2006 serta Januari tahun ini yang mengakibatkan kerugian RM4 bilion.
“Perubahan iklim tidak mengenal negara, tugas yang mendesak untuk kita sekarang ialah apa yang perlu kita lakukan pada peringkat nasional dan antarabangsa,” katanya.
Najib juga berkata, di peringkat antarabangsa, walaupun usaha dijalankan menerusi Konvensyen Rangka Kerja Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu mengenai Perubahan Iklim (UNFCC) dan Protokol Kyoto, namun pelepasan gas perindustrian terus meningkat.
Katanya, mengikut laporan penilaian keempat Panel Antara Kerajaan mengenai Perubahan Iklim (IPCC) yang dikeluarkan Februari lalu, cuaca 11 tahun kebelakangan ini adalah antara 12 tahun paling panas sejak 1850.
Malaysia katanya, komited melaksanakan pembangunan mapan dan antara inisiatif utama yang dilaksanakan kerajaan dalam menghadapi kepanasan global ialah dalam bidang tenaga yang diperbaharui.
Memaparkan catatan dengan label nabiilah. Papar semua catatan
Memaparkan catatan dengan label nabiilah. Papar semua catatan
Isnin, 29 Oktober 2007
Isnin, 17 September 2007
EPA Hauled Into Court Over Ship Smokestack Pollution
Source: Environment News Service (ENS)
Published Sep. 10, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC, September 7, 2007 (ENS) - Friends of the Earth is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, for failing to meet a deadline to regulate air pollution from large ships. The federal agency recently postponed indefinitely its commitment to set emissions standards for ship engines.
On Wednesday, the environmental group sued the EPA in federal district court in Washington, DC to force the agency to impose limits on emissions.
'Air quality in port cities like Seattle and Oakland takes a beating every time a large ship pulls into dock,' said Teri Shore of Friends of the Earth in San Francisco.
'The Bush EPA promised to act months ago to rein in ship smokestack pollution, but instead they have delayed regulations. Port communities are fed up and suffering, that's why we went to court today,' she said.
Just one cargo or cruise ship in port can pollute as much as 350,000 cars, and major ports receive hundreds of ship calls a month, says Shore, yet the air pollution from large ships is an environmental justice issue facing port communities nationwide.
In Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Houston, pollution blows into neighborhoods where respiratory illness has become common.
In addition, EPA has failed to regulate pollution from foreign-flagged ships, which make up more that 80 percent of port traffic from large ocean-going vessels. These vessels are exempt from meeting the air quality standards required by U.S. law.
The EPA says it has been trying to establish worldwide maritime emissions standards by negotiating with the International Maritime Organization.
'The EPA's recent proposal to the International Maritime Organization would deliver cleaner air to all Americans and reduce pollution at nation's ports domestically and internationally,' the agency said in a statement.
The statement said the agency expects to issue proposed rules for reducing emissions at domestic ports, but gave no date for the rulemaking.
The ships burn dirty, asphalt-like bunker fuel that is thousands of times dirtier than diesel used by trucks or trains, and most operate with engines that pre-date even weak international standards.
The bunker fuel contains sulfur, nitrogen, ash, and other substances that turn into sulfur oxide, nitrous oxide, and other pollutants and greenhouse gases when burned, Shore says.
The ships steam into ports and sit, sometimes for days, awaiting their turn to dock and running their engines to generate electricity to operate ship systems. People who live near ports are exposed to high levels of diesel particulate matter and other pollutants, she says.
Smokestack emissions from the global shipping fleet are projected to double in North America in the next decade, Friends of the Earth will argue, exposing communities to diesel exhaust that contributes to respiratory illness, cancer, heart disease, and premature death.
Sarah Burt of the nonprofit, public interest law firm Earthjustice, which is representing the environmental group, says, 'In Los Angeles alone, the ships in port spew more pollution than the metro area's six million cars combined.'
'Residents of nearby neighborhoods have high rates of respiratory illness and the region's highest cancer risk,' said Burt. 'We're taking action today to fix this health hazard.'
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish regulations to reduce air pollution from non-automobile engines that significantly contribute to pollution in areas with poor air quality.
EPA committed to the April 2007 deadline to regulate ocean-going vessel emissions in a 2003 Final Rule approved by the Washington, DC, Circuit Court of Appeals. This was in response to a previous lawsuit by Friends of the Earth and Earthjustice challenging lack of agency action on pollution from large ocean-going vessels.
So far, the plaintiffs argue, the agency has relied on weak international standards that provide no air quality benefits in U.S. waters, partly because many of the ships operating here are registered in foreign countries that are not party to the relevant international agreements.
A federal government review of international standards was recently delayed by nearly two years.
Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, recently introduced the Marine Vessel Emissions Act of 2007 (SB 1499) that would require cleaner fuels and engines in all ocean-going vessels calling on U.S. ports. Also a California Democrat, Congresswoman Hilda Solis introduced the same legislation in the House of Representatives (HR 2548).
Published Sep. 10, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC, September 7, 2007 (ENS) - Friends of the Earth is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, for failing to meet a deadline to regulate air pollution from large ships. The federal agency recently postponed indefinitely its commitment to set emissions standards for ship engines.
On Wednesday, the environmental group sued the EPA in federal district court in Washington, DC to force the agency to impose limits on emissions.
'Air quality in port cities like Seattle and Oakland takes a beating every time a large ship pulls into dock,' said Teri Shore of Friends of the Earth in San Francisco.
'The Bush EPA promised to act months ago to rein in ship smokestack pollution, but instead they have delayed regulations. Port communities are fed up and suffering, that's why we went to court today,' she said.
Just one cargo or cruise ship in port can pollute as much as 350,000 cars, and major ports receive hundreds of ship calls a month, says Shore, yet the air pollution from large ships is an environmental justice issue facing port communities nationwide.
In Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Houston, pollution blows into neighborhoods where respiratory illness has become common.
In addition, EPA has failed to regulate pollution from foreign-flagged ships, which make up more that 80 percent of port traffic from large ocean-going vessels. These vessels are exempt from meeting the air quality standards required by U.S. law.
The EPA says it has been trying to establish worldwide maritime emissions standards by negotiating with the International Maritime Organization.
'The EPA's recent proposal to the International Maritime Organization would deliver cleaner air to all Americans and reduce pollution at nation's ports domestically and internationally,' the agency said in a statement.
The statement said the agency expects to issue proposed rules for reducing emissions at domestic ports, but gave no date for the rulemaking.
The ships burn dirty, asphalt-like bunker fuel that is thousands of times dirtier than diesel used by trucks or trains, and most operate with engines that pre-date even weak international standards.
The bunker fuel contains sulfur, nitrogen, ash, and other substances that turn into sulfur oxide, nitrous oxide, and other pollutants and greenhouse gases when burned, Shore says.
The ships steam into ports and sit, sometimes for days, awaiting their turn to dock and running their engines to generate electricity to operate ship systems. People who live near ports are exposed to high levels of diesel particulate matter and other pollutants, she says.
Smokestack emissions from the global shipping fleet are projected to double in North America in the next decade, Friends of the Earth will argue, exposing communities to diesel exhaust that contributes to respiratory illness, cancer, heart disease, and premature death.
Sarah Burt of the nonprofit, public interest law firm Earthjustice, which is representing the environmental group, says, 'In Los Angeles alone, the ships in port spew more pollution than the metro area's six million cars combined.'
'Residents of nearby neighborhoods have high rates of respiratory illness and the region's highest cancer risk,' said Burt. 'We're taking action today to fix this health hazard.'
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish regulations to reduce air pollution from non-automobile engines that significantly contribute to pollution in areas with poor air quality.
EPA committed to the April 2007 deadline to regulate ocean-going vessel emissions in a 2003 Final Rule approved by the Washington, DC, Circuit Court of Appeals. This was in response to a previous lawsuit by Friends of the Earth and Earthjustice challenging lack of agency action on pollution from large ocean-going vessels.
So far, the plaintiffs argue, the agency has relied on weak international standards that provide no air quality benefits in U.S. waters, partly because many of the ships operating here are registered in foreign countries that are not party to the relevant international agreements.
A federal government review of international standards was recently delayed by nearly two years.
Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, recently introduced the Marine Vessel Emissions Act of 2007 (SB 1499) that would require cleaner fuels and engines in all ocean-going vessels calling on U.S. ports. Also a California Democrat, Congresswoman Hilda Solis introduced the same legislation in the House of Representatives (HR 2548).
EPA Takes Innovative Approach to Clear the Air at the Nation`s Ports
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Published Sep. 7, 2007
(Elizabeth, N.J.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved the nation’s supply chain closer to a cleaner, fuel-efficient and cost-effective future today as EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced a project to develop and test a new EPA-patented technology on large equipment used to move goods and products from ships to trucks. These heavy duty diesel machines, called yard hostlers, contribute to air pollution generated in ports throughout the world. EPA’s hydraulic hybrid technology, which is currently being tested in several UPS vehicles, is being readied for use in yard hostlers, the most common work vehicle used at loading docks. The hybrid vehicles will feature a unique hydraulic hybrid power train that can generate, recover, store and reuse braking power with very little air pollution.
“EPA and our partners are working together to ensure that America’s ports become harbors of clean air,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “Together, we are moving breakthroughs in hybrid technology from the labs to the docks – improving air quality while saving fuel. This technology is good for our environment, good for our economy, and good for our nation’s energy security.”
Port Authority Port Commerce Director Richard M. Larrabee said, 'We've made tremendous strides toward becoming an environmentally friendly port, but we need to do more if we are to continue to be recognized as a national leader in this area. The new program we are announcing today -- coupled with existing programs to preserve environmentally sensitive land, build new rail facilities that will reduce our dependence on trucks, and retrofit ferries with cleaner-burning engines -- will allow us to maintain a sustainable port well into the future.'
The hybrid vehicles will use a diesel-hydraulic system that will combine the cleanest available diesel engine technology with components that use hydraulic fluid compression to store energy. The hostlers will feature hydraulic hybrid power trains, which are unique hydraulic hybrid propulsion systems that provide power to the drive axles. Hydraulic tanks are used to store energy, in contrast to the less efficient batteries used in electric hybrid vehicles. Like other hybrid systems, energy saved when applying the brakes is reused to help accelerate the vehicle.
The hydraulic hybrid technology is expected to improve the fuel efficiency of the yard tractor by 50 to 60 percent, reduce or eliminate emissions during idling, and decrease brake wear. The same hydraulic hybrid technology that has shown dramatic energy efficiency improvements in delivery trucks can be applied to other equipment used to move goods around. The UPS hydraulic hybrid truck shows potential savings of 1,000 gallons of fuel per year where most delivery trucks are driven. This demonstration project will prove the effectiveness of hybrid hydraulic technologies on yard hostlers and it has the potential for widespread domestic and international adoption because the technology is easily installed, requires no major changes to a vehicle’s operating system or fueling requirements.
Reducing diesel emissions is a goal of EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign. Replacing the current non-road certified diesel yard tractors with cleaner more efficient, on-road engines that will meet future certification standards will provide immediate and significant emission reductions. The goal is to develop a hybrid drive system that will include a diesel engine that meets the 2007 and 2010 on-road diesel standards. An engine meeting the 2010 standard will also achieve 93% reductions in NOx and 93% reductions in particulate matter compared to an ordinary diesel yard tractor. The hydraulic hybrid technology is expected to further reduce emissions by eliminating emissions from the internal combustion engine during idling.
One of EPA’s many responsibilities is to promote environmentally-friendly trade practices and products related to the support of the U.S. Trade Representative in negotiating new international trade agreements. Recognizing the potential this project has to transform a key but relatively unknown element of the global supply chain, EPA has already provided $205,000 to fund this initiative and will also provide more financial and technical support next year.
Key partners in the project include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, A.P.M. Terminals, Kalmar Industries, Parker Hannifin Corporation and the Port of Rotterdam, with which EPA will share project information.
Published Sep. 7, 2007
(Elizabeth, N.J.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved the nation’s supply chain closer to a cleaner, fuel-efficient and cost-effective future today as EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced a project to develop and test a new EPA-patented technology on large equipment used to move goods and products from ships to trucks. These heavy duty diesel machines, called yard hostlers, contribute to air pollution generated in ports throughout the world. EPA’s hydraulic hybrid technology, which is currently being tested in several UPS vehicles, is being readied for use in yard hostlers, the most common work vehicle used at loading docks. The hybrid vehicles will feature a unique hydraulic hybrid power train that can generate, recover, store and reuse braking power with very little air pollution.
“EPA and our partners are working together to ensure that America’s ports become harbors of clean air,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “Together, we are moving breakthroughs in hybrid technology from the labs to the docks – improving air quality while saving fuel. This technology is good for our environment, good for our economy, and good for our nation’s energy security.”
Port Authority Port Commerce Director Richard M. Larrabee said, 'We've made tremendous strides toward becoming an environmentally friendly port, but we need to do more if we are to continue to be recognized as a national leader in this area. The new program we are announcing today -- coupled with existing programs to preserve environmentally sensitive land, build new rail facilities that will reduce our dependence on trucks, and retrofit ferries with cleaner-burning engines -- will allow us to maintain a sustainable port well into the future.'
The hybrid vehicles will use a diesel-hydraulic system that will combine the cleanest available diesel engine technology with components that use hydraulic fluid compression to store energy. The hostlers will feature hydraulic hybrid power trains, which are unique hydraulic hybrid propulsion systems that provide power to the drive axles. Hydraulic tanks are used to store energy, in contrast to the less efficient batteries used in electric hybrid vehicles. Like other hybrid systems, energy saved when applying the brakes is reused to help accelerate the vehicle.
The hydraulic hybrid technology is expected to improve the fuel efficiency of the yard tractor by 50 to 60 percent, reduce or eliminate emissions during idling, and decrease brake wear. The same hydraulic hybrid technology that has shown dramatic energy efficiency improvements in delivery trucks can be applied to other equipment used to move goods around. The UPS hydraulic hybrid truck shows potential savings of 1,000 gallons of fuel per year where most delivery trucks are driven. This demonstration project will prove the effectiveness of hybrid hydraulic technologies on yard hostlers and it has the potential for widespread domestic and international adoption because the technology is easily installed, requires no major changes to a vehicle’s operating system or fueling requirements.
Reducing diesel emissions is a goal of EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign. Replacing the current non-road certified diesel yard tractors with cleaner more efficient, on-road engines that will meet future certification standards will provide immediate and significant emission reductions. The goal is to develop a hybrid drive system that will include a diesel engine that meets the 2007 and 2010 on-road diesel standards. An engine meeting the 2010 standard will also achieve 93% reductions in NOx and 93% reductions in particulate matter compared to an ordinary diesel yard tractor. The hydraulic hybrid technology is expected to further reduce emissions by eliminating emissions from the internal combustion engine during idling.
One of EPA’s many responsibilities is to promote environmentally-friendly trade practices and products related to the support of the U.S. Trade Representative in negotiating new international trade agreements. Recognizing the potential this project has to transform a key but relatively unknown element of the global supply chain, EPA has already provided $205,000 to fund this initiative and will also provide more financial and technical support next year.
Key partners in the project include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, A.P.M. Terminals, Kalmar Industries, Parker Hannifin Corporation and the Port of Rotterdam, with which EPA will share project information.
A.E.S. 1977 paper to with plating emission problems
By Freeman Newton
Originally published Aug. 2007
A.E.S. PAPER
The following paper has NOT been altered whatsoever. Some notes a) A.E.S. stands for American Electroplating Society. b) the mention of l¼ million cfm is now incorrect as it is well over 3 million cfm c) The Grandview E.C.E. scrubber is a condensed name for Eliminate, Coalesce, Eliminate …. and this design is called by various names such as LMS …low micron scrubber and LMITS …low micron inertial type scrubber. d) the common scrubbing agent was always NaOH ….until the inertial blade type scrubbers appeared where by happen chance one found out that ordinary water was OK e) Bright Dip is the name given to a nitric phosphoric mix for cleaning aluminum, enormous ‘fumes’ are generated ! At STAYSA in Brantford I used to use an alkali to scrub the fumes using, like everyone else did, NaOH, as this plant was in a valley and the air monitoring people would check it out frequently … and then, during a visit, I checked the alkaline tank but the immigrant operator, whose English was poor, said … Only Aqua, aqua, aqua …. thereby indicating that the neutralizing liquid was NOT alkaline but just ordinary water. f) CFM stands for cubic feet per minute.e) italics stand for insertions and explanations as of July 2007 … 30 years hence.
INTRODUCTION
The author, Freeman Newton, has held various papers on plastics in the past including “Ventilation and the possibility of Air Recycle” at the l976 A.E.S. conference. He has been deeply involved in eliminator concepts, imported the T-100 blades into North America and is the designer of the Grandview E.C.E. inertial scrubber.
THE PLATER AND AIR POLLUTION
Does the present dayplater have greater overheads than his predecessors ? Of course he does ! One of the main reasons lies in the increasing costs of pollution control. This article deals with exhaust air requirements, suggests some ways of reducing CFM, and reports on the importance of ‘Dry Scrubbers” why dry scrubbing techniques work and how they can be used.
EQUIPMENT APPROVALS
No one likes a burocrat nor do we like to be told to do this or do that particularly as this and that involves not only a cash outlay but also recurring costs (eg. conventional scrubber operations) There are the Dept. of Labour (Ontario) requirements for a safe breathable in-plant environment. Having satisfied their standards, the exhausted air has then to meet the Ministry of the Environment (Ontario) air pollution standards. Should you politely ask the authorities what CFM you should exhaust, you might end up having an excellent exhaust system …but pay a fortune in heating costs. They will be or can be very helpful but their task is to try to ensure a safe environment, to vet designs, to set standards …but not to design ventilation equipment.
A very good book is INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION (Box 453, Lansing in Michigan, USA) . This is an excellent reference book whether you want to vent a tank or design a garage exhaust system. It shows fumehood designs and tables for calculating the amount of air (CFM) that a given process requires. If it errs it is because it uses inbuilt safety factors. Use it and the extraction will be very good – but again at a cost in BTUs.
ENERGY
In July 1977 the cost of one solitary CFM in terms of fuel required to heat the air to 65°F (24 hour operation) in the Toronto suburbs was 58¢ for oil and 36¢ gas per CFM per year. Can we save energy when we have got to exhaust some process? No. But you can design an extraction system that allows you to reduce the CFM and hence the fuel bill. In the case of some acids (eg sulphuric) or alkalines you could air recycle and save considerable fuel costs.
VENTILATION DESIGN - Caveat Emptor
You can pay initially less for a poorly designed ventilation system or one using incorrect materials (eg. galvanized steel for Chromic) but you will end up paying much more in the long run !
Maybe you should be a little suspicious of anyone trying to sell you an extract system. Is he just trying to make a sale? Does he take your problems to heart, does he know his materials, is he capable of proper design (if so, check out his past performance), does he use slot adjusters and/or dampers (an absolute must !), can he reduce your CFM ? Other considerations are the type of fan, will it or should it require vibration isolators – and especially will the final system meet existing pollution standards?
CONTROLLING EMISSIONS
The name of the game is CONTROL. If you can capture the emissions at source: if you can reduce the “width or length” of your tanks, you will reduce not only your heating bill but then also negative air conditions.
One way is to regard your tanks as if they had tight fitting lids into which you had to cut a hole just big enough for your rack or whatever. Anyhow where feasible why not at least shroud the areas that the anodes or cathodes take up. This area only contributes to higher CFM costs.
Progressive Anodizing in Toronto came up with the idea of making up a simple narrow semi-immersed hoodlet to collect and vent off all the hydrogen bubbling up from the cathodes. Now there is much more to this idea than meets the eye. In this case (Sulphuric anodizing) the bubbles of hydrogen burst in a typical fashion as they hit the surface and form very small droplets of acid. In other words, theoretically, most of the exhaust requirements in this situation are due to this local electrolytic action. This means that the rest of their push-pull 50 foot ventilation system should be able to reduce CFM requirements way, way below the so-called standards. Intelligent thoughts, well executed, mean less precious fuel being consumed in wintertime.
GAS STREAMS DO NOT EXIST!
Nearly all ambient temperature emissions of acids or alkalines are NOT gas streams. The term “gas stream” is a vague definition so often repeated that it is accepted as a fact.
The great majority of environmentally hazardous acid or alkali fumes at ambient temperature emissions consist of invisible to the eye droplets of liquid in an airstream are in the 2µm to 40µm range.
This phenomena is not generally realized by most engineers or chemists – and therefore they are blissfully unaware that inertial devices (especially the very high efficiency horixontal eliminators) can be just as effective as wet packed tower scrubbers in some cases – and yet operate ‘dry’, hence virtual collection of all the acid fumes and no demand for alkali scrubbing liquors.
In the plating industry this is definitely the case with Chromic … or Sulphuric … or Phosphoric etc … and to a lesser extent with Hydrochloric but only to a minor extent with pure Nitric.
The worst of the common acids is Nitric and the associated thoughts of NOX and brown plumes. Mixed with HF, Hydrofluoric, the most dangerous acid as far as skin contact is concerned, you have a very potent mix. Nitric acid fumes contain NHO3 droplets plus NO, N2O4, N2O3 as well as NO, the cause of the brown plume.
NO2 PLUME REMOVAL
NO2 brown plumes are not easy to remove as many a plant engineer may bear witness. The reddish brown plume is bad for three reasons. Firstly it is an eyesore (and many a complaint to the authorities is based on a visible plume). Secondly, it probably masks other emissions. Lastly, it eventually combines with the air moisture and sunlight to reform Nitric acid as do also the other NOX components.
Even to-day some people or Companies have not been able to remove it. So there is a certain amount of negative it-can’t-be-done feeling based on solid fact ….but fact based on conventional methods.
There are, in the ambient temperature spectrum, two types of NO2 plumes (EPA, please note !). The dry condition and the wetted plume where other chemicals are also vented in a common system containing the nitric fumes. The dry emission is much more difficult to conquer as the brown plume is a pure gas. The solution ? So far inertial separation can be made to work for the wetted airstream but the dry plume must somehow be moisturized and then removed intertially.
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
My thanks go to the manager of a large Ontario plating plant (Kuntz Electroplating) who was venting a hot nickel strip tank (concentrated nitric). He said he was sure that his brown plume was wet. At that time we had serious reservations about nitric plumes (which is another way of saying that we were scared witless).but based on what he had said, we felt sure we could remove hit wet brown plume. It turned out hat we were both quite wrong.
The apparent wetness of his plume was due to droplets of pure nitric. The first attempts of removing the plume itself failed, a few modifications later and the plume disappeared. Had we both known the true facts beforehand we probably would never have used the inertial approach. There will be disbelievers but you cannot knock success even if it is arrived at by roundabout means.
THE INERTIAL APPROACH
viz.. the capture by inertial deflection and consequent impaction of droplets onto a mist eliminator profile.
Grandview have been airflow engineering and making mist eliminators using sine-curve vane profiles for over five years. Well over l¼ million CFM of dry scrubbers has been made in its Mississauga plant Toronto plant involving, in most cases, virtual total acid recovery and therefore amortization of equipment costs to the end user.
The so-called T-120/2 ( 2 banks of T-100 blades @ 20 mm centres) goes down to 10 micron capture, the recent Grandview, my, invention of the E.C.E. inertial scrubber goes down to the 2 or 3 micron range – with one Company reporting 0.5 micron acid capture using reagents. The E.C.E. being particularly suitable for NO2 plume removal in such operations as Brightdip etc. Actual tests by INCO # 2 RESEARCH indicated removal of 0.2 to 0.8 microns at 86% efficiency. This was in a sulphuric airstream.
This technology has helped Grandview considerably to export their products – technology gained by theory and then experimentation. However to many people, the word ‘mist eliminator’ is synonymous with many relatively crude droplet devices. Droplet capture from a generating device such as a packed tower, wetted cyclone etc is fairly simple to achieve. But to produce a sophisticated eliminator (eg. dry scrubber) requires careful airflow engineering of all the components ! (ie. inlet transition angle, sump depth, blade overlapping)
The failure rate has been surprisingly low – on the other hand it was initially extremely difficult to persuade customers that the high velocity inertial route would work and solve their problems particularly as in those earlier years we could not draw on anyone else’s experience in this field. In retrospect it appears that Grandview was the first Company (in North America) and maybe in the world to very successfully remove various acid emissions, recycle the chemicals, meet pollution standards – and yet thereby often permit the end user too amortize his investment by acid recovery.
Remember, within the previously mentioned stipulation, GAS STREAMS DO NOT EXIST ….. and if they do not exist, just what is the point (and cost) of using a packed tower scrubber when inertial capture may work?
Originally published Aug. 2007
A.E.S. PAPER
The following paper has NOT been altered whatsoever. Some notes a) A.E.S. stands for American Electroplating Society. b) the mention of l¼ million cfm is now incorrect as it is well over 3 million cfm c) The Grandview E.C.E. scrubber is a condensed name for Eliminate, Coalesce, Eliminate …. and this design is called by various names such as LMS …low micron scrubber and LMITS …low micron inertial type scrubber. d) the common scrubbing agent was always NaOH ….until the inertial blade type scrubbers appeared where by happen chance one found out that ordinary water was OK e) Bright Dip is the name given to a nitric phosphoric mix for cleaning aluminum, enormous ‘fumes’ are generated ! At STAYSA in Brantford I used to use an alkali to scrub the fumes using, like everyone else did, NaOH, as this plant was in a valley and the air monitoring people would check it out frequently … and then, during a visit, I checked the alkaline tank but the immigrant operator, whose English was poor, said … Only Aqua, aqua, aqua …. thereby indicating that the neutralizing liquid was NOT alkaline but just ordinary water. f) CFM stands for cubic feet per minute.e) italics stand for insertions and explanations as of July 2007 … 30 years hence.
INTRODUCTION
The author, Freeman Newton, has held various papers on plastics in the past including “Ventilation and the possibility of Air Recycle” at the l976 A.E.S. conference. He has been deeply involved in eliminator concepts, imported the T-100 blades into North America and is the designer of the Grandview E.C.E. inertial scrubber.
THE PLATER AND AIR POLLUTION
Does the present dayplater have greater overheads than his predecessors ? Of course he does ! One of the main reasons lies in the increasing costs of pollution control. This article deals with exhaust air requirements, suggests some ways of reducing CFM, and reports on the importance of ‘Dry Scrubbers” why dry scrubbing techniques work and how they can be used.
EQUIPMENT APPROVALS
No one likes a burocrat nor do we like to be told to do this or do that particularly as this and that involves not only a cash outlay but also recurring costs (eg. conventional scrubber operations) There are the Dept. of Labour (Ontario) requirements for a safe breathable in-plant environment. Having satisfied their standards, the exhausted air has then to meet the Ministry of the Environment (Ontario) air pollution standards. Should you politely ask the authorities what CFM you should exhaust, you might end up having an excellent exhaust system …but pay a fortune in heating costs. They will be or can be very helpful but their task is to try to ensure a safe environment, to vet designs, to set standards …but not to design ventilation equipment.
A very good book is INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION (Box 453, Lansing in Michigan, USA) . This is an excellent reference book whether you want to vent a tank or design a garage exhaust system. It shows fumehood designs and tables for calculating the amount of air (CFM) that a given process requires. If it errs it is because it uses inbuilt safety factors. Use it and the extraction will be very good – but again at a cost in BTUs.
ENERGY
In July 1977 the cost of one solitary CFM in terms of fuel required to heat the air to 65°F (24 hour operation) in the Toronto suburbs was 58¢ for oil and 36¢ gas per CFM per year. Can we save energy when we have got to exhaust some process? No. But you can design an extraction system that allows you to reduce the CFM and hence the fuel bill. In the case of some acids (eg sulphuric) or alkalines you could air recycle and save considerable fuel costs.
VENTILATION DESIGN - Caveat Emptor
You can pay initially less for a poorly designed ventilation system or one using incorrect materials (eg. galvanized steel for Chromic) but you will end up paying much more in the long run !
Maybe you should be a little suspicious of anyone trying to sell you an extract system. Is he just trying to make a sale? Does he take your problems to heart, does he know his materials, is he capable of proper design (if so, check out his past performance), does he use slot adjusters and/or dampers (an absolute must !), can he reduce your CFM ? Other considerations are the type of fan, will it or should it require vibration isolators – and especially will the final system meet existing pollution standards?
CONTROLLING EMISSIONS
The name of the game is CONTROL. If you can capture the emissions at source: if you can reduce the “width or length” of your tanks, you will reduce not only your heating bill but then also negative air conditions.
One way is to regard your tanks as if they had tight fitting lids into which you had to cut a hole just big enough for your rack or whatever. Anyhow where feasible why not at least shroud the areas that the anodes or cathodes take up. This area only contributes to higher CFM costs.
Progressive Anodizing in Toronto came up with the idea of making up a simple narrow semi-immersed hoodlet to collect and vent off all the hydrogen bubbling up from the cathodes. Now there is much more to this idea than meets the eye. In this case (Sulphuric anodizing) the bubbles of hydrogen burst in a typical fashion as they hit the surface and form very small droplets of acid. In other words, theoretically, most of the exhaust requirements in this situation are due to this local electrolytic action. This means that the rest of their push-pull 50 foot ventilation system should be able to reduce CFM requirements way, way below the so-called standards. Intelligent thoughts, well executed, mean less precious fuel being consumed in wintertime.
GAS STREAMS DO NOT EXIST!
Nearly all ambient temperature emissions of acids or alkalines are NOT gas streams. The term “gas stream” is a vague definition so often repeated that it is accepted as a fact.
The great majority of environmentally hazardous acid or alkali fumes at ambient temperature emissions consist of invisible to the eye droplets of liquid in an airstream are in the 2µm to 40µm range.
This phenomena is not generally realized by most engineers or chemists – and therefore they are blissfully unaware that inertial devices (especially the very high efficiency horixontal eliminators) can be just as effective as wet packed tower scrubbers in some cases – and yet operate ‘dry’, hence virtual collection of all the acid fumes and no demand for alkali scrubbing liquors.
In the plating industry this is definitely the case with Chromic … or Sulphuric … or Phosphoric etc … and to a lesser extent with Hydrochloric but only to a minor extent with pure Nitric.
The worst of the common acids is Nitric and the associated thoughts of NOX and brown plumes. Mixed with HF, Hydrofluoric, the most dangerous acid as far as skin contact is concerned, you have a very potent mix. Nitric acid fumes contain NHO3 droplets plus NO, N2O4, N2O3 as well as NO, the cause of the brown plume.
NO2 PLUME REMOVAL
NO2 brown plumes are not easy to remove as many a plant engineer may bear witness. The reddish brown plume is bad for three reasons. Firstly it is an eyesore (and many a complaint to the authorities is based on a visible plume). Secondly, it probably masks other emissions. Lastly, it eventually combines with the air moisture and sunlight to reform Nitric acid as do also the other NOX components.
Even to-day some people or Companies have not been able to remove it. So there is a certain amount of negative it-can’t-be-done feeling based on solid fact ….but fact based on conventional methods.
There are, in the ambient temperature spectrum, two types of NO2 plumes (EPA, please note !). The dry condition and the wetted plume where other chemicals are also vented in a common system containing the nitric fumes. The dry emission is much more difficult to conquer as the brown plume is a pure gas. The solution ? So far inertial separation can be made to work for the wetted airstream but the dry plume must somehow be moisturized and then removed intertially.
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
My thanks go to the manager of a large Ontario plating plant (Kuntz Electroplating) who was venting a hot nickel strip tank (concentrated nitric). He said he was sure that his brown plume was wet. At that time we had serious reservations about nitric plumes (which is another way of saying that we were scared witless).but based on what he had said, we felt sure we could remove hit wet brown plume. It turned out hat we were both quite wrong.
The apparent wetness of his plume was due to droplets of pure nitric. The first attempts of removing the plume itself failed, a few modifications later and the plume disappeared. Had we both known the true facts beforehand we probably would never have used the inertial approach. There will be disbelievers but you cannot knock success even if it is arrived at by roundabout means.
THE INERTIAL APPROACH
viz.. the capture by inertial deflection and consequent impaction of droplets onto a mist eliminator profile.
Grandview have been airflow engineering and making mist eliminators using sine-curve vane profiles for over five years. Well over l¼ million CFM of dry scrubbers has been made in its Mississauga plant Toronto plant involving, in most cases, virtual total acid recovery and therefore amortization of equipment costs to the end user.
The so-called T-120/2 ( 2 banks of T-100 blades @ 20 mm centres) goes down to 10 micron capture, the recent Grandview, my, invention of the E.C.E. inertial scrubber goes down to the 2 or 3 micron range – with one Company reporting 0.5 micron acid capture using reagents. The E.C.E. being particularly suitable for NO2 plume removal in such operations as Brightdip etc. Actual tests by INCO # 2 RESEARCH indicated removal of 0.2 to 0.8 microns at 86% efficiency. This was in a sulphuric airstream.
This technology has helped Grandview considerably to export their products – technology gained by theory and then experimentation. However to many people, the word ‘mist eliminator’ is synonymous with many relatively crude droplet devices. Droplet capture from a generating device such as a packed tower, wetted cyclone etc is fairly simple to achieve. But to produce a sophisticated eliminator (eg. dry scrubber) requires careful airflow engineering of all the components ! (ie. inlet transition angle, sump depth, blade overlapping)
The failure rate has been surprisingly low – on the other hand it was initially extremely difficult to persuade customers that the high velocity inertial route would work and solve their problems particularly as in those earlier years we could not draw on anyone else’s experience in this field. In retrospect it appears that Grandview was the first Company (in North America) and maybe in the world to very successfully remove various acid emissions, recycle the chemicals, meet pollution standards – and yet thereby often permit the end user too amortize his investment by acid recovery.
Remember, within the previously mentioned stipulation, GAS STREAMS DO NOT EXIST ….. and if they do not exist, just what is the point (and cost) of using a packed tower scrubber when inertial capture may work?
Rabu, 12 September 2007
Dirty energy threatens health of 2 billion - study
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON (Reuters) - The health of about 2 billion of the world's poor is being damaged because they lack access to clean energy, like electricity, and face exposure to smoke from open fires, scientists said on Thursday.
Dangerous levels of indoor air pollutants from badly ventilated cooking fires are a common hazard, while lack of electricity deprives many of the benefits of refrigeration.
Paul Wilkinson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said the world's richest populations use up to 20 times more energy per head than those from poor countries, posing a challenge to improve energy supply without pollution.
Writing in the Lancet medical journal, Wilkinson and colleagues estimated 2.4 billion people worldwide were exposed to pollution from inefficient burning of solid fuels like wood, coal and dried cow dung.
This causes around 1.6 million premature deaths each year -- roughly double the level of deaths from air pollution in cities -- and many more non-fatal cases of respiratory diseases.
At the same time, around 1.6 billion people worldwide have no electricity.
"Paradoxically, the poor are using much less energy but they are getting all the adverse effects," Wilkinson said in an interview.
"We in the more developed countries have access to clean energy and are using much more of it and are contributing to the global problem of climate change, where the main adverse effects are likely to fall, once again, on lower-income countries."
Global warming could trigger a range of health problems including more extreme heatwaves, increases in water-borne and insect-borne diseases, and threats to food supplies.
Lancet editor Richard Horton said the research showed that the current debate on climate change and new energy sources was unbalanced and too narrow.
"It neglects a far larger set of issues focussed on energy and health," he said.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - The health of about 2 billion of the world's poor is being damaged because they lack access to clean energy, like electricity, and face exposure to smoke from open fires, scientists said on Thursday.
Dangerous levels of indoor air pollutants from badly ventilated cooking fires are a common hazard, while lack of electricity deprives many of the benefits of refrigeration.
Paul Wilkinson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said the world's richest populations use up to 20 times more energy per head than those from poor countries, posing a challenge to improve energy supply without pollution.
Writing in the Lancet medical journal, Wilkinson and colleagues estimated 2.4 billion people worldwide were exposed to pollution from inefficient burning of solid fuels like wood, coal and dried cow dung.
This causes around 1.6 million premature deaths each year -- roughly double the level of deaths from air pollution in cities -- and many more non-fatal cases of respiratory diseases.
At the same time, around 1.6 billion people worldwide have no electricity.
"Paradoxically, the poor are using much less energy but they are getting all the adverse effects," Wilkinson said in an interview.
"We in the more developed countries have access to clean energy and are using much more of it and are contributing to the global problem of climate change, where the main adverse effects are likely to fall, once again, on lower-income countries."
Global warming could trigger a range of health problems including more extreme heatwaves, increases in water-borne and insect-borne diseases, and threats to food supplies.
Lancet editor Richard Horton said the research showed that the current debate on climate change and new energy sources was unbalanced and too narrow.
"It neglects a far larger set of issues focussed on energy and health," he said.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
Roadside diesel pollution poses heart danger - study
By Gene Emery
BOSTON (Reuters) - Air pollution reduces blood flow and interferes with the body's natural ability to break up blood clots, researchers said on Wednesday in a finding that may help explain why pollution can cause heart attacks.
And the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also suggests that heart patients trying to shape up might do their exercising away from traffic.
The researchers tested 20 male volunteers, all of them heart attack survivors, who pedaled an exercise bike while breathing diluted fumes from the exhaust of an idling Volvo diesel engine.
The exposure was comparable to the pollution levels found while driving in traffic.
Doctors already know that long-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of heart problems. The World Health Organization has estimated that it causes 800,000 premature deaths worldwide each year.
The new study looked at one particularly suspect element of air pollution and how it affected people over the short term.
Nicholas Mills of Britain's Edinburgh University and his colleagues found that when the volunteers breathed diesel fumes, their hearts were far more likely to be starved of oxygen than when they were breathing clean air.
And when they tested the blood of the men, they found that the fumes inhibited the body's natural system of breaking down the clots that can spark a heart attack or stroke.
That may explain the results of population-based studies showing that air pollution increases heart problems, they said.
It is not known exactly why the hearts became starved of oxygen or which substance in the exhaust was responsible for the effects.
"The study was specific in evaluating the effects of dilute diesel exhaust, an extremely complex mixture of particles and gases; it is not possible to glean which constituents of diesel exhaust were responsible for the observed effects," Dr. Murray Mittleman, of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, wrote in a commentary.
Although the study was only done on men with a previous heart attack, "these findings may represent the tip of an iceberg" and apply to anyone at risk for a heart attack, he said.
Exercise is already known to be beneficial and it especially decreases the risk that a person will have a heart attack while exerting themselves, Mittleman said.
"The risk-benefit ratio may be optimized if people exercise away from traffic when possible."
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
BOSTON (Reuters) - Air pollution reduces blood flow and interferes with the body's natural ability to break up blood clots, researchers said on Wednesday in a finding that may help explain why pollution can cause heart attacks.
And the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also suggests that heart patients trying to shape up might do their exercising away from traffic.
The researchers tested 20 male volunteers, all of them heart attack survivors, who pedaled an exercise bike while breathing diluted fumes from the exhaust of an idling Volvo diesel engine.
The exposure was comparable to the pollution levels found while driving in traffic.
Doctors already know that long-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of heart problems. The World Health Organization has estimated that it causes 800,000 premature deaths worldwide each year.
The new study looked at one particularly suspect element of air pollution and how it affected people over the short term.
Nicholas Mills of Britain's Edinburgh University and his colleagues found that when the volunteers breathed diesel fumes, their hearts were far more likely to be starved of oxygen than when they were breathing clean air.
And when they tested the blood of the men, they found that the fumes inhibited the body's natural system of breaking down the clots that can spark a heart attack or stroke.
That may explain the results of population-based studies showing that air pollution increases heart problems, they said.
It is not known exactly why the hearts became starved of oxygen or which substance in the exhaust was responsible for the effects.
"The study was specific in evaluating the effects of dilute diesel exhaust, an extremely complex mixture of particles and gases; it is not possible to glean which constituents of diesel exhaust were responsible for the observed effects," Dr. Murray Mittleman, of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, wrote in a commentary.
Although the study was only done on men with a previous heart attack, "these findings may represent the tip of an iceberg" and apply to anyone at risk for a heart attack, he said.
Exercise is already known to be beneficial and it especially decreases the risk that a person will have a heart attack while exerting themselves, Mittleman said.
"The risk-benefit ratio may be optimized if people exercise away from traffic when possible."
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
In pure Arctic air, signs of China's economic boom
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
ZEPPELIN MOUNTAIN, Norway (Reuters) - From a remote snowcapped mountain in the European Arctic you can detect China in the haze.
In the apparently pure Arctic air, a research station on a Norwegian island mountain ridge finds tiny chemical traces from factories in Russia, pesticides in Israel or China's coal-fired power plants.
Zeppelin Mountain, with an air pollution monitoring centre on a 474 metre (1,555 ft) high ridge to the left of the summit, is seen behind Ny Alesund, a research centre where between 30 and 130 people live in the Norwegian Arctic in this photo taken August 21, 2007. (REUTERS/Alister Doyle/Files)
"Some days we can definitely tell that the air has come from China," said Kim Holmen, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, at the station which has spectacular views over fjords, mountains and glaciers of Spitsbergen island.
The good news from a barrage of sensors is that many of the worst air pollutants, some of them linked to cancers or acid rain, have declined because of clean air laws in recent decades.
But greenhouse gases are surging and other pollutants are building up again even in a wilderness 1,200 km (750 miles) from the North Pole and 1,000 km from the nearest towns and factories in Russia and Norway.
A polluting haze that can blur the view in the Arctic springtime has thickened since around the late 1990s, perhaps because of more forest fires caused by climate change or rising pollution from Asia, led by China's boom, scientists say.
"The Arctic haze is increasing," said Lars Otto Reiersen, head of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme in Oslo. But the haze is still not as thick as in the 1980s.
Zeppelin, on a 474 metre (1,555 ft) high mountain ridge, is one of about a dozen stations in remote spots from Hawaii to Antarctica that dissect the atmosphere in a U.N. network. It is named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a German Arctic explorer better known for building airships.
DETECTIVE WORK
"The air is always mixing but you can do some detective work: the particles are slightly different in the United States, Russia, China, Europe or India," Holmen said.
Emissions from cars, for instance, have a different chemical signature according to national gasoline blends. Israel is alone in using a type of pesticide on its orange trees.
More ghoulishly, funeral pyres in some Asian countries release toxic mercury from fillings in the teeth of the deceased. If detected, the mercury means air did not come from Europe, North America or Japan where crematoriums have filters.
"Most of the particles we see come from Europe and Russia," Holmen said of measurements at the site, reached by a tiny cable car. "About 20 percent are from elsewhere."
Clambering up a ladder onto a snow-covered roof crowded with high-tech air-sniffing sensors, Holmen noted the clock to make sure scientists would disregard all measurements when people were outside and disrupt readings.
"When we are out here it has an immediate impact on carbon dioxide levels," he told visitors, as a chill wind blew from the Pole. People emit the gas when breathing.
A recent spike in some readings was explained after a scientist spotted the tracks of an Arctic fox in snow nearby.
One of the clearest trends at Zeppelin is a rise in greenhouse gases, at the highest in more than 650,000 years according to studies of air bubbles trapped in ancient ice.
Carbon dioxide levels reached about 390 parts per million this year against 270 ppm before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century ushered in wide use of fossil fuels. Warming is widely expected to bring more heatwaves, floods and rising seas.
Most greenhouse gases come from Europe and North America but the rise is quickening, perhaps again pointing to growth in developing nations led by China. But greenhouse gases are invisible and the thickening of the Arctic haze is a puzzle.
FOREST BLAZES
"There was an improvement in the transparency of the Arctic atmosphere until 6-8 years ago and then it started to worsen again," Reiersen said.
"This is probably because of an increase in forest fires due to climate change. There are more fires in Siberia and North America and these bring more soot into the atmosphere," he said.
Global warming can contribute to fires because more beetles that prey on trees survive in less icy winters. Trees infested by beetles often dry out and are more vulnerable to fires.
Overall, the world has made progress in cleaning the air since early efforts such as the U.S. Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. Sulphur pollutants from Russian metals smelters have fallen because of laws curbing acid rain.
And a 2001 U.N. pact outlawed a "dirty dozen" industrial chemicals such as PCBs and pesticides, partly after they were found in the breast milk of Inuit women and in polar bear fat.
Holmen said he was trying to refine measurements -- the main disturbances are from a scientific base at Ny Alesund in the valley below, where between 30 and 130 people live.
He said he had even suggested an outdoor smoking ban in Ny Alesund. "Nobody seemed to like that idea," he said.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
ZEPPELIN MOUNTAIN, Norway (Reuters) - From a remote snowcapped mountain in the European Arctic you can detect China in the haze.
In the apparently pure Arctic air, a research station on a Norwegian island mountain ridge finds tiny chemical traces from factories in Russia, pesticides in Israel or China's coal-fired power plants.
Zeppelin Mountain, with an air pollution monitoring centre on a 474 metre (1,555 ft) high ridge to the left of the summit, is seen behind Ny Alesund, a research centre where between 30 and 130 people live in the Norwegian Arctic in this photo taken August 21, 2007. (REUTERS/Alister Doyle/Files) "Some days we can definitely tell that the air has come from China," said Kim Holmen, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, at the station which has spectacular views over fjords, mountains and glaciers of Spitsbergen island.
The good news from a barrage of sensors is that many of the worst air pollutants, some of them linked to cancers or acid rain, have declined because of clean air laws in recent decades.
But greenhouse gases are surging and other pollutants are building up again even in a wilderness 1,200 km (750 miles) from the North Pole and 1,000 km from the nearest towns and factories in Russia and Norway.
A polluting haze that can blur the view in the Arctic springtime has thickened since around the late 1990s, perhaps because of more forest fires caused by climate change or rising pollution from Asia, led by China's boom, scientists say.
"The Arctic haze is increasing," said Lars Otto Reiersen, head of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme in Oslo. But the haze is still not as thick as in the 1980s.
Zeppelin, on a 474 metre (1,555 ft) high mountain ridge, is one of about a dozen stations in remote spots from Hawaii to Antarctica that dissect the atmosphere in a U.N. network. It is named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a German Arctic explorer better known for building airships.
DETECTIVE WORK
"The air is always mixing but you can do some detective work: the particles are slightly different in the United States, Russia, China, Europe or India," Holmen said.
Emissions from cars, for instance, have a different chemical signature according to national gasoline blends. Israel is alone in using a type of pesticide on its orange trees.
More ghoulishly, funeral pyres in some Asian countries release toxic mercury from fillings in the teeth of the deceased. If detected, the mercury means air did not come from Europe, North America or Japan where crematoriums have filters.
"Most of the particles we see come from Europe and Russia," Holmen said of measurements at the site, reached by a tiny cable car. "About 20 percent are from elsewhere."
Clambering up a ladder onto a snow-covered roof crowded with high-tech air-sniffing sensors, Holmen noted the clock to make sure scientists would disregard all measurements when people were outside and disrupt readings.
"When we are out here it has an immediate impact on carbon dioxide levels," he told visitors, as a chill wind blew from the Pole. People emit the gas when breathing.
A recent spike in some readings was explained after a scientist spotted the tracks of an Arctic fox in snow nearby.
One of the clearest trends at Zeppelin is a rise in greenhouse gases, at the highest in more than 650,000 years according to studies of air bubbles trapped in ancient ice.
Carbon dioxide levels reached about 390 parts per million this year against 270 ppm before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century ushered in wide use of fossil fuels. Warming is widely expected to bring more heatwaves, floods and rising seas.
Most greenhouse gases come from Europe and North America but the rise is quickening, perhaps again pointing to growth in developing nations led by China. But greenhouse gases are invisible and the thickening of the Arctic haze is a puzzle.
FOREST BLAZES
"There was an improvement in the transparency of the Arctic atmosphere until 6-8 years ago and then it started to worsen again," Reiersen said.
"This is probably because of an increase in forest fires due to climate change. There are more fires in Siberia and North America and these bring more soot into the atmosphere," he said.
Global warming can contribute to fires because more beetles that prey on trees survive in less icy winters. Trees infested by beetles often dry out and are more vulnerable to fires.
Overall, the world has made progress in cleaning the air since early efforts such as the U.S. Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. Sulphur pollutants from Russian metals smelters have fallen because of laws curbing acid rain.
And a 2001 U.N. pact outlawed a "dirty dozen" industrial chemicals such as PCBs and pesticides, partly after they were found in the breast milk of Inuit women and in polar bear fat.
Holmen said he was trying to refine measurements -- the main disturbances are from a scientific base at Ny Alesund in the valley below, where between 30 and 130 people live.
He said he had even suggested an outdoor smoking ban in Ny Alesund. "Nobody seemed to like that idea," he said.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
Selasa, 11 September 2007
PGCC bandar bebas karbon pertama konsep tradisional
Oleh Mohd Anwar Patho Rohman
GEORGETOWN: Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), bandar bebas karbon pertama di dunia yang akan dimajukan Equine Capital Bhd menerusi syarikat sekutunya, Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, akan berkonsepkan tradisional.
Pengerusi Eksekutif Equine Capital, Datuk Patrick Lim, berkata walaupun bakal menjadi bandar termaju dilengkapi teknologi moden, pembangunannya masih tidak mengabaikan unsur tempatan.
Lapan puluh perunding dalam bidang pembinaan dan alam sekitar dari dalam dan luar negara termasuk enam arkitek, yang diambil bekerja untuk mereka bentuk konsepnya.
Daripada jumlah itu, 40 perunding dari luar negara termasuk arkitek terkenal dari Asymptote Architecture, Hani Rashid serta kakitangannya dari New York dan London.
“Selebihnya adalah perunding tempatan termasuk dari Pulau Pinang dan Kuala Lumpur yang akan berganding bahu dengan pakar luar negara," katanya.
Beliau berkata demikian pada taklimat media mengenai projek pembangunan PGCC bersama Hani, arkitek utama projek itu di sini, semalam.
Perancang utama PGCC ialah Nasrien Seraji iaitu pakar perunding dan arkitek dari Iran yang berpejabat di Paris, Perancis.
PGCC akan dibangunkan di tapak Kelab Lumba Kuda Pulau Pinang membabitkan kawasan seluas 104 hektar. Ia akan dibangunkan secara berfasa dalam tempoh 15 tahun.
Pelan induk projek yang bernilai kira-kira RM25 bilion itu akan dilancarkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi di sini, hari ini.
PGCC, adalah satu daripada projek teras Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) dan akan menjadi mercu tanda Pulau Pinang dan Pusat Persidangan dan Pameran Antarabangsa (MICE).
Projek itu direka bentuk dengan dua menara ikonik, kompleks beli-belah dan panggung kesenian yang canggih. Ia membabitkan pembangunan sebuah taman dalam pusat bandar, menghubungkan Taman Belia dan Taman Botani.
Sementara itu, Hani berkata, PGCC yang akan menggabungkan bahan binaan tempatan dan import akan menjadi mercu tanda lebih hebat berbanding Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).
“Matlamat saya untuk membina satu ikon yang memenuhi kehendak semua dan ia menjadi bangunan masa depan yang bukan saja moden dan bergaya, malah mesra ekologi," katanya.
GEORGETOWN: Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), bandar bebas karbon pertama di dunia yang akan dimajukan Equine Capital Bhd menerusi syarikat sekutunya, Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, akan berkonsepkan tradisional.
Pengerusi Eksekutif Equine Capital, Datuk Patrick Lim, berkata walaupun bakal menjadi bandar termaju dilengkapi teknologi moden, pembangunannya masih tidak mengabaikan unsur tempatan.
Lapan puluh perunding dalam bidang pembinaan dan alam sekitar dari dalam dan luar negara termasuk enam arkitek, yang diambil bekerja untuk mereka bentuk konsepnya.
Daripada jumlah itu, 40 perunding dari luar negara termasuk arkitek terkenal dari Asymptote Architecture, Hani Rashid serta kakitangannya dari New York dan London.
“Selebihnya adalah perunding tempatan termasuk dari Pulau Pinang dan Kuala Lumpur yang akan berganding bahu dengan pakar luar negara," katanya.
Beliau berkata demikian pada taklimat media mengenai projek pembangunan PGCC bersama Hani, arkitek utama projek itu di sini, semalam.
Perancang utama PGCC ialah Nasrien Seraji iaitu pakar perunding dan arkitek dari Iran yang berpejabat di Paris, Perancis.
PGCC akan dibangunkan di tapak Kelab Lumba Kuda Pulau Pinang membabitkan kawasan seluas 104 hektar. Ia akan dibangunkan secara berfasa dalam tempoh 15 tahun.
Pelan induk projek yang bernilai kira-kira RM25 bilion itu akan dilancarkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi di sini, hari ini.
PGCC, adalah satu daripada projek teras Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) dan akan menjadi mercu tanda Pulau Pinang dan Pusat Persidangan dan Pameran Antarabangsa (MICE).
Projek itu direka bentuk dengan dua menara ikonik, kompleks beli-belah dan panggung kesenian yang canggih. Ia membabitkan pembangunan sebuah taman dalam pusat bandar, menghubungkan Taman Belia dan Taman Botani.
Sementara itu, Hani berkata, PGCC yang akan menggabungkan bahan binaan tempatan dan import akan menjadi mercu tanda lebih hebat berbanding Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).
“Matlamat saya untuk membina satu ikon yang memenuhi kehendak semua dan ia menjadi bangunan masa depan yang bukan saja moden dan bergaya, malah mesra ekologi," katanya.
Isnin, 10 September 2007
USM develops air filter system
PENANG: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has developed a practical and cost-effective method of tackling air pollution.
Local researchers have developed a workable system, known as Rice Husk Ash-Based Sorbent/Catalyst As A Novel Industrial Gas Cleaning Technology, to this end.
The innovation won USM the most distinguished Higher Education Minister Award during the recent International Exposition of Research and Inventions of Institutions of Higher Learning (Pecipta) 2007, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Pollutant remover: Dr Lee and USM School of Chemical Engineering lecturer associate professor Dr Azlina Harun showing a model of the air filter at their campus Monday.
USM School of Chemical Engineering lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed initiated the research work seven years ago.
Project leader and department lecturer Dr Lee Keat Teong said the system was ready for commercialisation.
“We are even prepared to market this system in the United States,” he said.
The technology requires a custom-built model that channels the gas or waste from any agricultural factory to a filter bag, flowing through an absorber made from the ash of rice husks.
“It can remove 100% of the air pollutant,” Dr Lee said after a press conference to announce the outcome of the Pecipta event held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 10 to 12.
Dr Lee said the rice-husk ash method could be used to remove pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from the burning of industrial fuels, which caused acid rain and global warming.
Local researchers have developed a workable system, known as Rice Husk Ash-Based Sorbent/Catalyst As A Novel Industrial Gas Cleaning Technology, to this end.
The innovation won USM the most distinguished Higher Education Minister Award during the recent International Exposition of Research and Inventions of Institutions of Higher Learning (Pecipta) 2007, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Pollutant remover: Dr Lee and USM School of Chemical Engineering lecturer associate professor Dr Azlina Harun showing a model of the air filter at their campus Monday.
USM School of Chemical Engineering lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed initiated the research work seven years ago.
Project leader and department lecturer Dr Lee Keat Teong said the system was ready for commercialisation.
“We are even prepared to market this system in the United States,” he said.
The technology requires a custom-built model that channels the gas or waste from any agricultural factory to a filter bag, flowing through an absorber made from the ash of rice husks.
“It can remove 100% of the air pollutant,” Dr Lee said after a press conference to announce the outcome of the Pecipta event held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 10 to 12.
Dr Lee said the rice-husk ash method could be used to remove pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from the burning of industrial fuels, which caused acid rain and global warming.
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