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Show NOx REGULATIONS IN NAFTA MEMBER COUNTRIES. ('3 Antonio de la 0 Coen Company, Inc., Burlingame, CA, USA CllIistian Roy Coen Canada, Inc., St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada 1.-Abstract The North American Free Trade Agreement became effective January 1, 1994, starting the process that will incorporate Canada, Mexico and the United States into the largest free trade zone in the world. A side agreement on environmental protection was also signed. Although it is widely expected that NAFT A will create a certain uniformity in the environmental regulations in these countries, the current reality is that the level of environmental awareness and severity of their environmental regulations differ substantially. The objective of this- paper is to present an overview of the NOx emission regulations currently in effect in each of these countries. 2. NOx Regulations in USA. Following the political structure of the USA, a variety of regulations may be applicable to a single installation. There is a federal law, the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and a federal agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charged with enforcing it. In addition to this, every state, county and city in the USA may adopt its own NOx regulation and create its own agency to enforce it. In many cases, state and local regulations are more restrictive than the federal law and take precedence over the latter. In addition to current regulations, the EPA and state agencies have designated specific "non-attainment" areas where even stricter NOx standards may apply. Federal Regulations.- New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). The US EPA promulgated the New Source Page 1 Performance Standards on November 1986. The NSPS apply to all new, modified or reconstructed steam generating units with a design heat input greater that 100 million BTU/Hr. NSPS focus is on limiting NOx emissions for gas, oil, coal, wood and municipal waste fired boilers. The most restrictive NOx limits apply to boilers with furnace space heat releases under 70,000 BTU/CuFt. Most field erected boilers fall in this category. Less stringent NOx limits apply to most package boilers which have furnace space heat releases equal or greater than 70,000 BTU/CuFt. Figure 2.1 shows a summary of NSPS for gas and oil firing. The actual limits are set in Lbflv1M BTU units. Approximate NOx PPM units are provided for comparison purposes. FUB. 1YPE NaUaI Gal DIaIIIIaIe 011 ~OII NSPS STANDARDS FOR NITROGEN OXIDES FOR BOIlERS il 100 MM EI'T'WHR NOx EMISSION UMITS FURNACE SPACE HEAT RB.EASE s 70,000 BT\JICU FT > 70,000 BT\JICU FT ~MBnJ Appra(. PPM ~MBnJ ApprCKPPM 0.10 80 G.2O 160 0.10 7S G.2O 150 G.3O 225 0.40 310 Figure 2.1.- New Source Performance Standards. Distillate oils are defined as those containing 0.05% nitrogen or less, and complying with ASTM specs for No.1 and 2 fuel oils. Residual |