&EPA
www.epa.gov/airscience
science in ACTION
CLEAN AIR RESEARCH
PROGRAM
SCIENTISTS DEVELOP AND TEST MULTIPOLLUTANT
CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES
Issue:
Historically, the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's approach to regulating
air pollutant emissions has been
to target pollutants individually.
For example, an industrial source
may be subject to separate control
requirements for nitrous oxide,
sulfur dioxide, and hazardous air
pollutant emissions. As a result
of these requirements, controls
may be implemented and updated
by different schedules for each
emission component.
These myriad regulations can
yield inefficient control strategies.
For example, the control
technology that is most cost-
effective for one particular
pollutant may not be cost-
effective in the context of other
regulated pollutants. Thus, a more
integrated, multipollutant
regulatory approach may lead to
more cost-effective and efficient
control strategies.
To this end, EPA is piloting an
integrated, multipollutant
approach that more
comprehensively considers the
various types of emissions,
technology characteristics, and
control options for specific source
"sectors" such as cement
production or power generation.
Ultimately, a multipollutant
approach is expected to lead to
more streamlined regulatory
requirements that achieve
environmental and health goals
more cost-effectively than
traditional, single-pollutant
approaches. Research is needed,
however, to support the
development of multipollutant
regulatory strategies and
applications.
Scientific Objective:
EPA's Clean Air Research
Program in the Office of
Research and Development is
developing and testing new
technologies and strategies for the
simultaneous control of multiple
pollutants. Research efforts are
underway and planned to:
• Evaluate the performance and
benefits of various control
technologies, including
scrubbers and sorbents, in
removing multiple air
pollutants from coal-
combustion systems.
• Determine the co-benefit
efficiency of existing
technologies for the control of
other air pollutants.
• Develop modeling tools that
will enable air quality managers
to consider multipollutant
reduction strategies and
evaluate the economic and cost
implications of various options.
• Determine the performance of
novel and existing technologies
for multipollutant control that
have been developed for
application in coal-fired
electricity generating units to
other industrial sectors (e.g.,
continued on back
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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www.epa.gov/airscience
science in ACTION
CLEAN AIR RESEARCH PROGRAM
continued f-omjront
cement kilns, pulp and paper,
etc.)
In addition, EPA is developing
computer models that will assist
EPA and regulated industries in
identifying cost-effective
strategies for complying with
multipollutant regulations.
Key scientific questions being
addressed include:
• What known technologies can
be used to reduce multiple
pollutants and are reasonably
amenable to field application?
• How can existing technologies
be modified to provide
multipollutant control?
• Are there novel approaches or
technologies that can be used to
manage multipollutant risks?
• What are the relative costs,
performance, and
environmental implications of
competing multipollutant
reduction options?
• What are cost-effective control
strategies by which specific
industries can comply with
multipollutant control
requirements?
Application and Impact
EPA's Clean Air Research
Program has been a leader in
advancing air pollution
prevention and control
technologies for key industries,
utility power plants, waste
incinerators, indoor environments
and sources of greenhouse gases.
As EPA moves to a sector-based,
multipollutant regulatory
approach, the expertise in the
research program is being tapped
to develop new models and tools
that can be used by risk assessors
and air quality managers to
develop more effective strategies
to reduce air pollution.
For example, EPA researchers
have conducted bench- and pilot-
scale work to provide
multipollutant capacity to a wet-
flue-gas desulfurization (FGD)
scrubber used in coal-fired power
plants. Through the optimized
introduction of an oxidant
additive, the scrubber can be used
to reduce emissions of nitrogen
oxides, mercury, and sulfur
dioxides.
EPA researchers have also
developed a multipollutant, multi-
sector emissions trading model to
analyze and evaluate various air
pollution reduction policy options
for industrial sectors. An initial
effort has focused on the U.S.
cement sector. The model enables
industries to evaluate their
emissions during the various
stages of the production process
and determine how to keep
operating costs down along with
associated air emissions. The
model is being expanded to
include additional sectors, such as
pulp and paper as well as iron and
steel.
REFERENCES
Hutson, N.D., Krzyzynska, R., Srivastava, S.K.,
Simultaneous Removal of SO2, NOX, and Hg
from a Simulated Coal Flue Gas using a NaClO2-
enhanced Wet Scrubber, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.,
2008,47(16), 5825.
Staudt,J.E., Jozewicz,W. Performance and Cost of
Mercury and Multipollutant Emission Control
Technology Applications on Electric Utility
Boilers. US EPA Report EPA/600/R-03/110. 2003.
Washington, D.C.
CONTACT
Douglas McKinney, EPA's Office of Research and
Development, National Risk Management
Research Laboratory, 919-541-3006,
mckinney.douglas@epa.gov
Nick Hutson, Ph.D., EPA's Office of Research and
Development, National Risk Management
Research Laboratory, 919-541-2968,
hutson.nick(g!epa. gov
APRIL 2009
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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