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Show Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to perform an experimental and fundamental investigation of chemical and physical mechanisms governing organic H A P formation, destruction and emissions3'4,5. The PERF program included three main activities: • Experimental full-scale burner tests in a pilot-scale research furnace to characterize emissions data from various burners over a range of operating conditions; • Fundamental investigations including lab-scale experiments and theoretical chemical mechanism development; and • A review of field data to provide a link to the research furnace tests. In the tests of full-scale burners in the Burner Engineering Research Laboratory furnace (Figure 1), located at the Sandia National Laboratories Combustion Research Facility in Livermore, California, field combustion conditions were carefully duplicated to ensure highly representative results. Natural gas alone and four and five-component fuel gas mixtures (natural gas, hydrogen, propane, nitrogen, and somtimes propylene or ethylene) were tested in conventional and low- N O x burners over a wide range of operating conditions. This program produced measurement data of very high quality which shed light on many of the key questions surrounding the field data6. HAP EMISSION MEASUREMENT METHODS The data contained in the WSPA-CATEF database reflect field tests on actual petroleum industry process heaters and boilers in California which were performed to comply with AB2588. C A R B specified the substances to be measured and the corresponding test methods for AB2588 compliance. Many of these methods (Table 2) were still evolving and improved over the ensuing years as analytical techniques improved and/or field experience revealed data quality problems (e.g., C A R B Methods 422, 428, 429, and 430). Thus, although the methods in their current form represent the best methods available for making air toxics emissions measurements, the quality of the older test results often is lower. H A P test methods used to characterize the organic compounds targeted in the PERF study also are listed in Table 2. The methods were carefully selected and represent the best methods - i.e., the most sensitive and selective methods - currently available for this application9. A detailed Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) was prepared based on EPA Category II requirements (on scale of I to IV, with I being the highest) - suitable for rulemaking/policy decisions in conjunction with other results10. PILOT-SCALE RESULTS Effect of Operating and Design Parameters Figure 2 shows the concentrations of key organic HAPs detected in all of the PERF tests9. The data are divided into two broad categories according to operating conditions: normal range, which duplicated the range of conditions normally encountered in actual process heaters at oil refineries; 3 |