United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Environmental Monitoring Systems
Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S4-83-022 July 1983
Project Summary
ARMCO Special Study Report
V. Ross Highsmith
A participate monitoring network was
established by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in the vicinity of the
ARMCO Integrated Steel Works in
Middletown, Ohio, from March, 1980,
to August 1981. Paniculate data col-
lected included Total Suspended Par-
ticulate (TSP), 15-pm Inhaled Particu-
late (IP) Size Selective Inlet (SSI) high
volume samples, and 15-ju.m IP dicho-
tomous samples. The particu late data
collected were used by the Office of Air
Quality Panning and Standards (OAQPS)
to test the overall effectiveness of the
"bubble concept" as a method for re-
ducing fugitive dust emissions. The
15-fj.m data were used by OAQPS to
evaluate past and present ARMCO data
with the proposed 15-jum particu late
standard. Twoofthe"bubbleconcept"
emission control strategies were im-
plemented by ARMCO during the pro-
ject Pre- and post-control ambient
particulate data were collected to
examine their effectiveness in reducing
plant fugitive emissions. Passive TSP
samples were collected and an assess-
ment made of how much particulate
matter settled on the filter when the
sampler was not operational.
When compared to pre-control data,
the network data indicate a reduction
in ARMCO fugitive dust emissions as a
result of the "bubble concept" control
strategies.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Environmental Monitoring
Systems Laboratory, Research Triangle
Park, NC, to announce key findings of
the research project that is fully doc-
umented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Introduction
Butler County, Ohio, was designated a
TSP non-attainment area based on 1974-
1979 TSP monitoring data collected in the
proximity of the Middletown ARMCO plant
ARMCO responded by initiating a series of
control measures aimed at lowering the
plant's fugitive emissions. The first control
measure, paving the slag haul road, was
implemented in June, 1978. The last two
control measures, paving the East-West
Freeway and implementation of road clean-
ing and slag pile spraying programs,
occurred during July, 1980, and August
1980, respectively. These innovative con-
trol measures treat all plant emissions as
though they were confined under a bubble
and this was subsequently labeled the
"bubble concept" Under this concept,
the industry is provided maximum flexibil-
ity to reduce or eliminate pollution controls
where costs are high, in exchange for
compensating increased controls at emis-
sion sources where costs are low, in order
to achieve a net reduction in overall plant
emissions.
The Environmental Monitoring Systems
Laboratory conducted a special study in
the vicinity of the Middletown, Ohio,
ARMCO Integrated Steel Works from
March, 1 980, to August 1 981. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
network operated prior to and after the
implementation of the final two ARMCO
"bubble concept" control strategies. Both
pre- and post-control particulate data were
collected. These data were used by the
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
(OAQPS) in support of their assessment of
the overall effectiveness of the "bubble
concept" control strategies in reducing
fugitive emissions. OAQPS analyzed the
network data to determine if post-control
fugitive emissions fell within compliance
of the National Ambient Air Quality Stan-
dards (N AAQS). A second assessment of
the pre- versus post-control data would
indicate whether the last two control mea-
surements resulted in a significant reduc-
tion in fugitive emissions.
This report briefly describes the sampling
operation and then discusses the results.
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In addition to routine Total Suspended
Paniculate (TSP) high volume sampling,
two types of 15-u.m paniculate samplers
(high volume samplers fitted with a 1 5-
/im size selective inlet (SSI) and 15-/mi
dichotomous sampler) were also operated
Collocated TSP samplers were operated at
one site and collocated SSI samplers were
operated at a second site to validate sampler
operation. Because of the fugitive dust,
passive high volume (hi-vol) samples were
collected at five network sites. An estimate
of off-mode paniculate collection on the
TSP hi-vol sample data was computed.
Procedure
Five paniculate monitoring sites were
established in the proximity of the Middle-
town ARMCO plant in March 1980. A
sixth site. Standard Radio Electronic Parts
Company (SREPCO), was added in Sep-
tember 1980. The SREPCO site was
located approximately one-quarter mile
from the old ARMCO East Works site, the
site that generated the majority of non-
compliance data during 1974-1979. TSP
hi-vol samplers were set up at five sites.
Since TSP samples included collection of
some of the larger particle sizes associated
with the fugitive emissions, the TSP data
are used to describe the overall effective-
ness of the "bubble concept" SSI hi-vol
samplers were set up at all six sites while
15-/xm dichotomous samplers were set
up at two sites (Yankee Gate Road and
ARMCO Research). Both fine (0-2.5 jum)
particle size and coarse (2.5-15 jum)
particle size fraction samples were col-
lected with a dichotomous sampler. The
sum of the coarse and fine fractions (total
dichotomous sample) is comparable tothe
15-jum SSI collection. The network 15-
ju.m data allowed an interpretation of past
and present ARMCO data in relation to the
proposed 15-u.m particulate standard.
Passive TSP sampiers (15 x 1 5 inch) were
set up at five sites to investigate the effect
of off-mode particle collection on TSP data
as cited in earlier studies. An 11 Vi x 14
inch passive TSP shelter was collocated
with the 15 x 15 inch TSP shelter at one
site to directly compare the passive collec-
tion of a typical Inhaled Particulate Network
(IPN) TSPshelter(11 V* x 14 inch) versus
the TSP shelter routinely used in other
networks (15x15 inch).
From March through October, 1980,
sampling was conducted every third day
with every other sampling day matching
the National Air Monitoring Station/State
and Local Air Monitoring Station (NAMS/
SLAMS) schedule on the sixth day. After
November 1, 1980, network sampling
was reduced to only every sixth day.
Routine sampler operation, including
sampler flow checks, calibrations, external
flow audits, and administrative sampler
documentation, followed prescribed EPA
IPN procedurea Filter handling and labora-
tory weighing procedures followed pub-
lished EPA or IPN guidelines. Routine
sample validation procedures and standard
statistical criteria were used to indicate
outliers and to flag questionable data.
Results
Table 1 is a summary of the TSP data
Arithmetic and geometric means are re-
ported for three time periods: the entire
project period, the pre-control sampling
period, and the post-control sampling period
A comparison of pre-control versus post-
control data shows the effectiveness of
the last two control strategies in reducing
fugitive emissions. A comparison of the
entire project data to pre-" bubble concept"
data (1974-1979) shows the overall ef-
fectiveness of the " bubble concept" strat-
egies in reducing the fugitive emissions in
compliance of the NAAQS.
The TSP data indicate that the industrial
sites were influenced more by fugitive
emissions than were the commercial/
residential sites, which were further away.
Data from the three industrial sites cannot
be directly compared to the NAAQS, as
two sites (Coke Plant and Yankee Gate) did
not meet ambient siting criteria ("fence-
line") and the SREPCO site data summaries
Table 1. TSP Mass Loading ((ig/m3) Summary Table
Total
Project
Arithmetric
Mean
Std. Dev.
Geometric
Mean
# Samples
MAX Value
2nd MAX Value
Pre- Control
Arithmetric
Mean
Std. Dev.
Geometric
Mean
# Samples
Post-Control
Arithmetric
Mean
Std. Dev.
Geometric
Mean
# Samples
Coke Plant
Gate
100.3
39.7
92.9
106
232.3
195.2
104.5
41.0
96.4
40
97.7
39.0
90.8
66
Industrial
Site
Coke Plant Gate
Collocated
102.1
41.8
94.3
109
231.2
224.1
108.9
48.4
98.5
42
97.9
36.8
91.7
67
Industrial
Site
Yankee Gate
Road
87.0
30.0
81.9
104
173.3
156.2
92.8
30.0
87.7
40
83.4
29.8
78.6
64
Industrial
Site
ARMCO
Research
64.5
21.0
61.0
106
122.8
122.4
69.7
25.5
64.6
39
61.4
17.4
59.1
67
Commercial/
Residential
Site
Wilson
School
59.2
22.9
55.0
110
122.7
117.5
62.1
24.1
57.4
38
57.6
22.3
53.8
72
Commercial/
Residential
Site
SREPCO
88.7
43.5
79.8
61
210.9
187.7
88.7
43.5
79.8
61
Industrial/
Residential
Site
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are based on less than one complete year
of data. Corresponding SSI and dichoto-
mous sampler summaries were, as ex-
pected, lower in average concentration
than the TSP values. The 1 5-jum sampler
data also show that the industrial sites
were more influenced by fugitive emis-
sions. Overall, the TSP data collected by
this special study were lower than the
previous study TSP data. In addition, no
single day TSP value exceeded the 260
jLtg/m3 24-hour standard. OAQPS eval-
uated the entire project data and con-
cluded that there were significant reductions
in TSP concentrations attributable to the
"bubble concept" control measures.
Industrial site SSI/TSP ratios, which
ranged from 0.69 to 0.74, indicated that
approximately 30% of the particles col-
lected at these sites exceeded 1 5-ju.m in
diameter. The residential/commercial site
SSI/TSP ratios, by comparison, ranged
from 0.80 to 0.86 and indicated that only
10 to 20% of the particles collected at
these sites exceed 15-/xm in diameter.
Dichotomous sampler Total IP loadings
and the coarse/fine dichotomous ratio at
the industrial site (x = 58.7 jug/m3 with
coarse/fine = 1.28) were larger than the
comparable residential site dichotomous
value (x = 40.9 jug/m3 with coarse/ fine =
0.80). These differences were due to the
differences in fugitive emissions at the
industrial site versus the residential/com-
mercial site.
A t-test for non-paired data was used to
determi ne the effectiveness of the last two
control strategies to reduce fugitive emis-
sions. For each sampler, pre-control data
was tested against post-control data, and a
confidence interval calculated. With the
exception of three marginally distinguish-
able cases, these tests indicated that im-
plementation of the last two control strate-
gies resulted in no statistically significant
reduction in fugitive emissions. OAQPS
had reported that the bulk of the reduction
in fugitive emissions resulted from control
measures implemented prior to this study.
An evaluation of the network 15x15
inch passive hi-vol samples3 revealed that
off-mode particle collection accounted for
10 to 12% of the TSP data. The comparison
of the Coke Plant Gate 11 72 x 14 inch
passive hi-vol sampler6 with the collocated
15x15 inch passive sampler yielded
statistically indistinguishable results.
Using an external audit device, the mean
percent difference calculated for 470 in-
dependent operator-performed sampler
flow checks was an excellent 1.9%. Mean
hi-vol sampler flow shifts resulting from
47 field recalibrations were 1.1 7% of the
original sampler flow as determined prior
to the project. The results of three inde-
pendent external sampler audits averaged
- 1.06% difference, with no sampler flow
exceeding the ±10% audit flow limits. A
comparison of collocated sampler mass
loading data (TSP= mean 0.45% difference;
SSI = mean 2.60% difference) indicates
uniformity in sampler operations. These
results indicate that the overall quality of
the project data was acceptable.
Conclusions
The findings of the EPA Network are
summarized below.
1. Based on the earlier OAQPS/EPA as-
sessment, the ARMCO "bubble concept"
control strategies have resulted in a total
reduction of plant fugitive emissions.
Although three network sites (Coke Plant,
SREPCO, and Yankee Gate) yielded aver-
aged TSP mass loadings in excess of the
prescribed 75 /io/m3 geometric mean
standard, these site averaged loadings are
lower than the pre-1975 ARMCO East
Works data reported for TSP. Data col-
lected from the two fenceline sites (Coke
Plant and Yankee Gate) may not be ap-
propriate for use in determining compliance
with the NAAQS. SREPCO site summaries
were calculated from less than one com-
plete calendar year of data and therefore
may not be directly compared with the
NAAQS. Additionally, no single day TSP
value exceeded the 260 /xg/m3 standard
during the course of this study.
2. The monitoring data reported here,
within consideration of the earlier data, do
not indicate that the two control strategies
implemented during the time period of
this network yielded a statistically signifi-
cant change in total plant emissions. An
evaluation of pre- versus post-control mass
loadings in the present study indicates the
pre-control loadings are indistinguishable
from post-control loadings.
3. The repeatability of mass loading collec-
tion for TSP and SSI samplers within this
network was excellent (0.45% difference
for TSP, 2.6% difference for SSI), as
demonstrated by the collocated TSP and
SSI sampler data.
4. Off-mode passive sampler collection,
based on the 15x15 inch passive hi-vol
samples resulted in a collection of about
10 to 12% of the total TSP collection for
each site evaluated in this study. This size
hi-vol sampler is almost exclusively used
by agencies in the NAMS/SLAMS network
The EPA author V. Ross Highsmith is with the Environmental Sciences Research
Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.
The complete report, entitled "ARMCO Special Study Report," (Order No. PB
83-209 759; Cost: $8.50, subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA author can be contacted at:
Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park. NC 27711
a The size used by most local agencies.
The size used in the IP Network.
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