Multisource emission retrieval within a biogas plant based on inverse dispersion calculations--a real-life example

Environ Monit Assess. 2014 Oct;186(10):6251-62. doi: 10.1007/s10661-014-3852-0. Epub 2014 May 29.

Abstract

Open digestate storage tanks were identified as one of the main methane (CH4) emitters of a biogas plant. The main purpose of this paper is to determine these emission rates using an inverse dispersion technique in conjunction with open-path tunable diode laser spectroscopy (OP-TDLS) concentration measurements for multisource reconstruction. Since the condition number, a measure of "ill-conditioned" matrices, strongly influences the accuracy of source reconstruction, it is used as a diagnostic of error sensitivity. The investigations demonstrate that the condition number for a given source-sensor configuration in the highly disturbed flow field within the plant significantly depends on the meteorological conditions (e.g., wind speed, stratification, wind direction, etc.). The CH₄ emissions are retrieved by removing unrepresentative periods with high condition numbers, which indicate uncertainty in recovering the individual sources. In a final step, the CH₄ emissions are compared with the maximum biological methane potential (BMP) in the digestate analyzed under laboratory conditions. The retrieved methane emission rates represent an average of 50% of the maximum BMP of the stored digestate in the winter months, while they comprised an average of 85% during the measurement campaigns in the summer months. The results indicate that the open tanks have the potential to represent a substantial emission source even during colder periods.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis*
  • Air Pollution / prevention & control
  • Air Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
  • Biofuels*
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods
  • Methane / analysis*
  • Models, Chemical
  • Wind

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Biofuels
  • Methane