Large commercial cattle feedlots are significant sources of particulate matter (PM) emissions. This research compared WindTrax and the flux-gradient technique in estimating emissions of PM with aerodynamic diameter &l...Large commercial cattle feedlots are significant sources of particulate matter (PM) emissions. This research compared WindTrax and the flux-gradient technique in estimating emissions of PM with aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM<sub>10</sub>) from cattle feedlots. Meteorological conditions were measured and PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations were profiled vertically (i.e., 2.0 to 7.62 m) at a large commercial beef cattle feedlot in Kansas from May through September 2011. Results show that between the two methods evaluated, WindTrax was least sensitive to changes in heights and number of heights used in the emission estimation, with calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates varying by up to 18% only. On the other hand, PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates produced by the flux-gradient technique varied by almost 56% when changing either heights and/or number of heights in emission calculation. Both methods were sensitive to height settings, with their respective PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates higher when the lowest height setting (2.0 m) was included. Calculating PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates with the 7.62-m height led to lower estimates for the flux-gradient technique but no significant change in estimates was observed for WindTrax. As demonstrated in this study, for the flux-gradient technique, settings for the lowest and highest heights were the most critical in emission estimation;exclusion of other heights in between showed only to 2% to 6% change in calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates. In general, the higher PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates were obtained with the flux-gradient technique. However, eliminating the lowest height (2.0 m) in the calculation and, at the same time, using a specific set of formulations for the flux-gradient technique made its calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates slightly lower (but not significantly different) than those from WindTrax.展开更多
文摘Large commercial cattle feedlots are significant sources of particulate matter (PM) emissions. This research compared WindTrax and the flux-gradient technique in estimating emissions of PM with aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM<sub>10</sub>) from cattle feedlots. Meteorological conditions were measured and PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations were profiled vertically (i.e., 2.0 to 7.62 m) at a large commercial beef cattle feedlot in Kansas from May through September 2011. Results show that between the two methods evaluated, WindTrax was least sensitive to changes in heights and number of heights used in the emission estimation, with calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates varying by up to 18% only. On the other hand, PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates produced by the flux-gradient technique varied by almost 56% when changing either heights and/or number of heights in emission calculation. Both methods were sensitive to height settings, with their respective PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates higher when the lowest height setting (2.0 m) was included. Calculating PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates with the 7.62-m height led to lower estimates for the flux-gradient technique but no significant change in estimates was observed for WindTrax. As demonstrated in this study, for the flux-gradient technique, settings for the lowest and highest heights were the most critical in emission estimation;exclusion of other heights in between showed only to 2% to 6% change in calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates. In general, the higher PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates were obtained with the flux-gradient technique. However, eliminating the lowest height (2.0 m) in the calculation and, at the same time, using a specific set of formulations for the flux-gradient technique made its calculated PM<sub>10</sub> emission rates slightly lower (but not significantly different) than those from WindTrax.
