Korean technology lays the foundation for air quality improvement

A newly developed expertise has made it attainable to measure advantageous particle ranges in difficult circumstances, breaking Korea’s reliance on worldwide applied sciences for such measurements. This preprocessing expertise permits the real-time monitoring of coarse particles (PM₁₀) and advantageous particles (PM_2.5) emissions from thermal energy vegetation and waste incinerators.

It’s anticipated that the applying of this progressive expertise will likely be prolonged to the monitoring of advantageous particle emissions from each newly established and current amenities sooner or later.

The analysis staff lead by Dr. Bangwoo Han, head of the Division of City Atmosphere Analysis of the Korea Institute of Equipment and Supplies, an institute beneath the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has developed, for the primary time within the nation, the expertise for classifying coarse particles (PM₁₀) and fine particles (PM_2.5) particles by dimension and measuring them in actual time.

This expertise transforms the harsh conditions inside chimneys—characterised by excessive temperatures and excessive particle concentrations—into an ambient atmosphere with room temperature and low particle focus, enabling accurate measurement.

Leveraging the 4 distinct applied sciences developed by the KIMM’s analysis staff, it’s now attainable to handle emissions of coarse particles (PM₁₀) and advantageous particles (PM_2.5) from chimneys primarily based on particle size fairly than on the overall suspended particles (TSP; the general mass of airborne mud particles per unit quantity, the place the dimensions is often 50 micrometers or much less).

These applied sciences embody 1) iso-kinetic inlet to adapt to fluctuating fuel movement charges and pressures, 2) fixed sampling and dilution, 3) droplet separation, and 4) prevention of lack of particles on interior surfaces. The effectiveness of this real-time advantageous particle monitoring strategy has been confirmed throughout a six-month demonstration interval at varied home energy vegetation and incinerators.

Correct real-time knowledge acquisition for advantageous particle measurements was beforehand problematic due to the intense circumstances inside chimneys, which embody excessive temperatures and dense particle concentrations. The prevalent technique, mild transmission measurement, not directly measures TSP portions by assessing the discount in mild depth after it passes by way of general mud particles within the chimney. This strategy has posed challenges for exact advantageous particle monitoring.

Conversely, the gravimetric measurement technique includes quantifying the advantageous particles collected on a filter over a sure sampling interval by measuring its weight. The extended time required for data collection implies that this system falls wanting providing real-time advantageous particle administration capabilities.

By using the iso-kinetic inlet expertise devised by the KIMM’s analysis staff, it’s now attainable to decelerate the speed of the exhaust gases coming into the measurement gadget, thereby decreasing the errors in measurement that end result from fluctuations within the fuel movement charge contained in the chimney. This development is crucial in enabling exact measurements of advantageous particles.

Moreover, the analysis staff has engineered an automatic control for dilution air injection, making certain {that a} constant quantity of exhaust fuel is sampled no matter environmental variations like stress and temperature modifications inside the chimney. The system additionally avoids the formation of condensation droplets by retaining the temperature of the gadget persistently excessive sufficient, and it reduces particle adhesion loss by injecting air right into a porous steel tube.

Dr. Bangwoo Han, head of the Division of City Atmosphere Analysis of the KIMM, commented, “We have developed a first-of-its-kind technology that allows for the accurate determination of both the concentration and size distribution of fine particles from chimneys in real time. Based on the concentration data of fine particles measured in the fields, we will strive to establish a comprehensive management system for fine particle emission sources.”

This analysis was facilitated by the challenge for the “demonstration of technologies for continuous measurement of fine particles emitted from facilities by using multi-stage dilution sampling” carried out by the Ministry of Atmosphere. This technology has been chosen by the Ministry of Atmosphere as one of many “2023 Top 20 Excellent Environment-related R&D Accomplishments.”