Quantifying the Air Pollution Exposure Consequences of - Houston ...

Contents
Contents ............................................................................................................................... i
Figures................................................................................................................................ iv
Tables................................................................................................................................ vii
Abstract.............................................................................................................................. ix
I. Introduction.................................................................................................................1
II. Methods..................................................................................................................... 11
II.A Case Selection and Background Information ................................................... 12
II.A.1 Case Selection Criteria.............................................................................. 12
II.A.1.a Existing Units.................................................................................... 12
II.A.1.b Hypothetical DG Cases..................................................................... 16
II.A.2 Location and Background Information of Cases ...................................... 16
II.A.2.a Existing Units.................................................................................... 16
II.A.2.b Hypothetical DG (< 1 MW) Cases ................................................... 26
II.B Pollutant Selection ............................................................................................ 30
II.C Modeling Tools and Input Data ........................................................................ 31
II.C.1 Gaussian Plume Model ............................................................................. 31
II.C.1.a Gaussian Plume Model for Conserved Pollutants ............................ 31
II.C.1.b Gaussian Plume Model for Decaying Pollutants .............................. 35
II.C.2 Meteorological Parameters ....................................................................... 37
II.C.2.a Mixing Height................................................................................... 37
II.C.2.b Wind Speed and Direction................................................................ 40
II.C.2.c Atmospheric Stability Class.............................................................. 47
II.C.3 Population Parameters .............................................................................. 47
II.C.4 Modeling Designations and Data Inputs for Existing Units and
Hypothetical DG Cases............................................................................. 48
II.C.4.a Modeling Designations ..................................................................... 48
II.C.4.b Data Inputs........................................................................................ 58
II.C.5 Pollutant Data............................................................................................ 71
II.D Modeled Parameters.......................................................................................... 73
II.D.1 Intake Fraction .......................................................................................... 73
II.D.1.a Intake Fraction for Conserved Pollutants ......................................... 74
II.D.1.b Intake Fraction for a Decaying Pollutant.......................................... 75
II.D.1.c Intake Fraction Model....................................................................... 76
II.D.2 Intake-to-Generation Ratio ....................................................................... 76
III. Results and Discussion ......................................................................................... 77
III.A Intake Fraction Results ..................................................................................... 77
III.A.1 Conserved Pollutants Intake Fractions...................................................... 77
III.A.1.a Existing Units.................................................................................... 77
III.A.1.b Hypothetical DG Cases..................................................................... 83
III.A.1.c Comparisons Between Existing Units and Hypothetical DG Cases. 88
III.A.2 Results for Decaying Pollutant ................................................................. 93
III.A.3 Comparison to Previous Research ............................................................ 96
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